


Release

by Kris675



Category: Crypt TV - Fandom, Mordeo (Web Series), The Look-See (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Crypt TV, Dark, Depressing, Depression, Domestic Violence, Drinking to Cope, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Horror, Human/Monster Romance, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Look-see - Freeform, Masturbation, Monsters, Murder, Other, Past Domestic Violence, Pocket Watches, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Sam wants to fuck the monster, Self-Harm, Sharp Dressed Monster, Smut, Stockholm Syndrome, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Triggers, Violence, Vomiting, Voyeurism, Wow She Sure Does Pass Out A Lot, spoop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-01-13 02:48:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21236891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris675/pseuds/Kris675
Summary: Sam attempts to release.A story from the point of view of a proxy of the Look-See





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> CONTENT WARNING: This writing may be very troubling to some people. Please read ALL tags.

The only thing Sam could hear was the racing beat of her own heart and the ringing inside her head. Her fingers were tangled in her hair as she leaned her elbow on the kitchen table, staring down at the gun sitting mere inches away. Her other hand shook as she still grasped at her cigarette. Sam had been sitting like this for hours now, feeling wave after wave of different emotions hitting her in the span of just one night.

Sam owned the gun for protection, but the farther she fell into the black hole of depression she couldn't dig herself out of, the more she thought of using it on herself. She called out of work sick that night, unable to muster up the energy to even get out of bed, let alone interact with asshole customers. She felt like an emotionless void, unable to move or think. She spent hours staring up at her ceiling, unblinking, the only thing she was able to feel was the pain of her eyes drying out slowly until her vision became blurred.

Eventually, after pain in her back set in from just lying there, Sam miraculously managed to stand up and use the bathroom. On her way back to bed, she spotted the small safe she kept next to her nightstand and made a decision then and there. She sat down and lit up a cigarette she had grabbed from her nightstand, watching as the flame of her lighter trembled before her eyes as her nerves became more and more frayed. She had been so close so many times in the past to finally doing it, but tonight will be different.

Her movements were slow and methodical. She took a puff of her cigarette and then smoothed down the matty mess of hair on her head. Slowly, she slid off the bed and down onto her knees, giving the small safe a long, hard glare before turning the dial and hearing it click open. Sam's heart began to race when she saw the loaded handgun sitting just before her eyes. A long time had passed before she was able to touch it, her fingers dancing around the cold metal before she gripped it into her fingers and held it up.

The gun had been heavier than she remembered. Or it was the weight of her current decisions. She couldn't tell which.

Sam shuffled her way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Her apartment was small, so she didn't have very far to go, but her bare feet dragged along the dirty wood floor the entire way. She slumped down into a chair at the table and put the gun down, making such a loud thud as it hit the wood that it caused Sam's heart to skip a beat. She took a long drag of her cigarette as she stared down at the table, and a wave of relief hit her like a ton of bricks.

Relief. That she would finally be rid of the weight on her shoulders. No more would she have to deal with the judgemental looks of those around her. No more would she be liable for her actions or the actions of others. She'd be gone. She didn't believe in an afterlife, and while the idea of non-existence frightened her, the thought of oblivion seemed better than what she deserved. She didn't deserve a peaceful death in her old age, surrounded by her loved ones.

She had no one to love her.

She deserved nothing.

She deserved to die.

Hot tears spilled out onto her cheeks and the pain in her body felt like a punch in the gut. Sam's emotions erupted in violent sobs as she let them take her one final time. Her shoulders shook and her lungs burned as she gasped through shaky breaths. She doubled over, her forehead pressed so hard against the table that the ridges in the wood left marks in her skin, but she didn't care. Sam's tears spilled down onto her pajama pants, and she sat like that for a long time. It wasn't until her body started to ache and a faint buzzing in her brain kicked up that she decided to sit up. Taking a deep breath, she rested her elbow onto the table and slid her fingers into her knotted hair. She rested her head into her palm and took a long drag of her cigarette until just the smoking butt was left clutched between her fingers.

Sam's heart thumped in her chest and her ears began to ring. She probably looked like an absolute mess, but at this point, she didn't care. All of her dignity had been gone long before she got to this point. Without giving it a second thought, Sam then rested her arm down onto the table and plunged the burning end of her cigarette into the flesh of her forearm. She grit her teeth and let out a small whimper as the pain throbbed through her arm, but then calmness slowly overtook her, building up from the pit of her stomach and washing out to the tips of her toes.

She sat there, letting her skin burn, but enjoying the release she got from her self harm. Dropping her head back, she let out a heavy sigh and tossed the cigarette butt onto the floor beside her. Slowly she brought her head back up to look at her arm, which now had a dark circle carved into her flesh. Beside it was other scars, more cigarette burns, but also cuts and slashes carved into her skin. Not all done by her.

A heavy wave of remembrance once again fell onto her shoulders and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Sam's mind wandered to the past, thoughts of a man taking all sorts of objects and using them to badly abuse her in many different ways. In her past, she let the man do this to her. She didn't know any better. She loved this man, despite the pain he caused her. She didn't know any better.

Carefully, she picked up the gun.

With this one final decision, she will let go of her past. Of the memories that haunt her, that keep her awake at night, that make her want to end her life...

She put down the gun.

"Fuck." Sam cursed loudly to herself and dug her fingertips into her eyes, rubbing them hard until she saw stars. When she opened them, she saw that the gun had been placed down onto a piece of paper that hadn't been there before. Quickly, she whipped her head around to see if anyone had gotten into her apartment when she wasn't looking. But, she was alone.

Slowly she moved the gun off the paper and picked it up, her eyes scanning over and over again at the words that at first didn't make sense, but soon enough it clicked.

"If You yourself Cannot release Then It will come to take A Piece"

It was made clear to her just then that, in the final moments of her life, she was beginning to lose touch with reality. Sam let the paper fall from her hand and flutter to the floor, falling face-up on the linoleum. She looked over and read it once more before taking the gun again into her hand.

Finally. Everything in her life had led to this moment. Nothing she had ever done had been worthwhile enough for her to stick around. She had no family left, no friends who truly cared about her. Sam was alone. With this act, she would have no more regrets. True, the people that would live on after her would suffer. Her landlord would have to clean up the mess she made, the local stray cats wouldn't be fed any more, and nobody would be around to help her blind neighbor put his trash in the right spot once a week... But Sam would be gone. Her consciousness non-existent. There would be nothing left of the woman who truly did nothing for this world.

Sam closed her eyes. The knot in her stomach tightened and twisted. Her hand shook as she brought the gun to her head.

Sam then outstretched her arm, pointing the gun in the direction of the chair that sat across from her at the table. Her elbow locked and her shoulder slouched forward until the barrel of the gun was pressed heavily against the forehead of the thing that now sat opposite her. Sam was afraid to open her eyes, but she forced herself and was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of horror that overtook her mind.

A low, guttural clicking noise came out of the mouth that was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The face that peered down at Sam was not a man, but a monster. It had no eyes, and its skin seemed like large patches of leather that had been haphazardly thrown together to somewhat resemble a face. She could see the exposed muscle in between the sections of flesh that coated its face, and the mouth looked as if the entire head of the creature had been ripped in half, as the edges of its smile ended at where its ears should have been.

Sam was too frozen with fear to move. The gun was still pressed to this creature's head, but she couldn't pull the trigger if she wanted to. Her eyes were wide, staring the thing down as it did nothing more than smile at her. Suddenly, she gasped for air, forgetting to breathe for a moment. Her body trembled, and this seemed to intrigue the creature, as it then leaned forward, pressing its head further into the gun and pushing Sam's arm back with it.

"W-what are you?" The words left Sam's mouth before she even realized she was speaking. It's sickening grin widened at that, and suddenly she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Sam glanced down and noticed it's hands resting on the table where she swore they weren't there before. She held back a gasp when instead of skin, she saw blackened claws sticking out of red, fingerless gloves. She wanted so badly to get up and run, but her legs refused to move, and all she could do was stare helplessly at the creature she was still holding a gun to.

It took her a moment to notice that its hands rested on top of a piece of paper that had not been there before. It was another page with just the words "If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece". Sam looked back up to its face as the creature's mouth fell open and more of the disarming clicking noises echoed through the small apartment.

For the second time that night, memories came flooding backing into Sam's brain like a title wave that almost knocked her to her ass. Images of a face, a human face, left a sour taste in the back of her throat as she remembered the man beat her. Screaming obscenities and racial slurs in a drunken rage. The scars left on Sam's body were a permanent reminder to how he broke her, and at this moment she could feel the pain of each and every one of them resurface. Sam swayed in her seat, feeling dizzy from the sudden remembrance, and in her moment of weakness, the creature moved closer, but Sam snapped back to reality and held the gun firmly to its head.

"Listen to me." Sam's voice was low and shaking, but she spoke slow and clear. She almost didn't notice the creature sitting across from her stopped making that haunting noise. "I have been trying so hard..." Sam didn't know when she started crying, the tears had begun running down her chin and neck and there was no way to stop herself now. "I want to let go so bad... If you're going to kill me," She lowered the gun finally, letting the back of her hand rest on the table while she pointed the barrel of the gun away from the both of them. "Do it."

The silence in the room was absolutely deafening.

The creature must have stared at her with its eyeless form for what Sam was sure was hours. Suddenly, the monster that sat across from her leaned back in the chair, it's clawed fingers scaping on the wood of the table as they fell out of sight and into its lap. Sam watched helplessly as the frightening creature backed off, refusing to make the next move. A breath escaped her lungs as she realized what was going on. The tears had kept falling, staining the collar of her shirt, leaving hot streaks across her cold skin.

"F-fine." Sam stuttered, and without hesitating anymore, she lifted the gun once again, pointing it towards her own head, and pulled the trigger.

All that was heard was a faint click, and Sam's hand wretched with tremors and she dropped the gun, the weapon clattering loudly down onto the table.

The gun hadn't gone off. Sam was confused. She opened her eyes again, not realizing that she'd closed them, and stared once again at the nightmare that was seated mere feet from her. Its smile grew menacingly wider at what had transpired, and Sam wanted to be sick. She wanted to wretch, to run away and vomit, but once again, something caught her eye.

The bullets of the gun were sitting on the table. It had been unloaded with a literal blink of the eye. The creature did that somehow, and that was why she was still alive. As quickly as she could, Sam tried grabbing for the bullets that were on the table, but as soon as she drew her arm back, her wrist was snatched up into the large, imposing hand of the creature.

A shriek came out of her as she tried to pull back, but it's grip was unwavering, and just peered down at her and emit a low rumble. Slowly, the creature's head seemed to fall back, it's mouth opening impossibly wide as Sam stared with bulging eyes into the gaping pit that was its throat. Emerging from the chasm that was the creature's mouth was a hand. A disturbingly human-like hand. Before she could do anything, the hand reached out and grabbed the bullets from Sam's grip and retreated back into the creature's mouth.

Sam screamed and pulled back, her hand falling from the monster's grip and she tumbled backward over her chair. Desperate to get to her feet, Sam scrambled away, and as she turned to run, the monster had appeared right in front of her. The monster grabbed her by her arms and lifted her up until her feet were no longer on the floor. She kicked and screamed, unable to rip from his grasp. All she could do was watch in horror as the creature lifted her up and up until his face was mere inches from hers. The creature opened its mouth, showing it's horrible rows of pointed teeth.

Sam could feel it's breath on her face, and she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was lying in bed.

Sam jolted up, frantically looking around the room as her heart raced. What the hell had happened? She jumped out of bed and swung her bedroom door opened to scan her apartment. There was nobody there. Carefully, she walked into the kitchen where she must have sat only moments ago. It looked like nothing had happened. The chair she had knocked over was upright. There was no note on the table, or on the floor.

Sam did notice the cigarette butt on the floor. The one she put out onto her own skin earlier that evening. She looked down to see the scar still fresh on her arm, and she knew that part was real. She turned to go back to the bedroom and headed right towards the safe where she kept her gun. Getting down onto all fours, she approached the safe and with a shaky hand, unlocked it.

It was empty.

The breath hitched in her throat. Then where was it? It wasn't in the kitchen, where could it have gone?

Sam stood back up, rubbing her neck and feeling completely drained. She looked and only noticed just then a large purple bruise had been forming on her wrist where she had been grabbed by the creature. What the fuck was going on?

As Sam stared at her wrist, she heard a noise behind her. It was a sound of the ticking of a clock, one that sounded unusual to her. A cold chill ran down her spine. She didn't turn around, she knew what was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr if you like my stuff.  
https://river675.tumblr.com/


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I felt the need to add to this. I want opinions, feedback, ideas... I dunno, anything. Lemme know what you thought. I'm new to writing horror, so let me know where I can do better.

Sam placed her beer bottle too close to the edge of the counter and it fell with a loud crash. Glass shards and beer spilled everywhere and Sam quickly fell to her knees to try and clean it up. She was drunk and stupidly tried picking up handfuls of broken glass, only to cut herself and drop it back into the puddle. She looked down at her hands as drops of blood fell into the beer, the color swirling and mixing together into a sickly brown.

Not knowing what else to do, Sam flipped her middle finger at the broken glass and decided that this was a problem for tomorrow. She stood up, not fully realizing she got a shard of glass stuck into her bare foot and began washing her bloody hands off in the sink. She walked around the puddle of beer to grab another bottle from the fridge before making her way over to the living room couch and flopping onto her back.

It had been a year since the nightmare of what had happened. The night Sam tried to kill herself and met face to face with a real-life monster. For once her dreams were no longer haunted by the vision of her past abuser, but instead, she was plagued by dreams of hundreds of sharp teeth. Sam shivered as she pulled her knees to her chest and watched the nightly news. As the reporter was giving as few details as he was allowed to give about a string of local murders, Sam cracked open the beer with a bottle opener on her keychain and nearly drank the entire thing in one go. She placed the glass down onto her coffee table with a dozen other empty bottles and let out a heavy sigh.

Sam then reached over to grab a pill bottle sitting nearby. In the last year she ended up breaking her leg pretty badly, and the doctor had prescribed hardcore pain relief for it. After her recovery, she never stopped taking the pills, though. Sam tossed two pills into the palm of her hand and paused before returning the cap. She shook out one more into her palm, one more wouldn't hurt, and then washed the pills down with the rest of her beer. She preferred the blissful nothingness the pills made her feel.

Sam was not alright. Since the night of her attempted suicide, she had barely slept, haunted by the thought of that monster coming back to get her. She did everything she can to try and learn more about the creature, about what it was and whether or not it might actually be back. The only information she was able to find was its name.

The Look-See.

One of the beer bottles fell off the coffee table and clattered onto the wooden floor. Sam nearly jumped out of her skin and held her chest tightly as she watched the bottle roll off to the other side of the room. For a split second, as the bottle rolled off into a shadowy corner of the room, Sam swore she saw it roll right into a pair of black leather shoes. She blinked, and they were gone. A chill ran down her spine and she grabbed the pill bottle again, maybe one more wouldn't hurt.

The pills kicked in after some time, and the world around Sam almost began to slow down. She watched the tv, her head bobbing slightly as she was made dizzy from just sitting there. She jumped again at a muffled crash right above her head. Heavy footsteps followed by doors slamming and angry screaming told her that her upstairs neighbors were fighting again. A sense of dread filled Sam as she experiences a visceral reaction at the sound of the yelling. She can let go all she wants, but after an experience like hers, there was no truly forgetting what had happened. Sam tossed another two pills into her mouth and curled up into a ball on the couch, turning the volume of her TV up all the way to drown out the noise. When that didn't work, she pressed her palms to her ears and buried her head into her knees, wishing it all would just go away.

Sam stopped breathing when she felt sharp nails drag over her shoulder and down her back.

She stifled a scream and bolted upright, expecting to come face-to-face with the monster yet again, but there was nothing. Frantically, she looked around and noticed her bedroom door slowly swing closed. An unexpected bout of anger boiled up within her as the screaming match between the two tenants upstairs intensified. All of this was becoming too much for Sam, and she almost launched herself off of the couch and into her bedroom.

The door had not fully closed by the time she got there, and she threw the door to her bedroom open so hard the handle left a dent in the wall. She searched for it, for any sign of the monster, but there was nothing. Of course there was nothing. It was probably all in her head. She let her shoulders slump in defeat, and as soon as she turned around to go back to the other room, she was stopped dead in her tracks.

She was so close to it that the tip of her nose brushed against its button-up shirt as she turned around. She gasped and took a step back, only to look up and see the horror that was the creature's face. Adrenalyn shot through her veins and she stumbled backwards onto her bed, clambering back until she was against the headboard to try and get away from it. The monster followed her, climbing onto the bed on all fours and getting directly up into her face. As it loomed over her it once again made that horrible ticking noise that filled Sam with absolute dread.

Sam couldn't think, she couldn't speak, she couldn't do anything other than sitting there in absolute terror. The thing just seemed to look down at her curiously as it inched ever so closer to her face. One of its large hands reached up, the claw-like fingertips gingerly touching the skin of her cheek. Sam tried to pull back, with a whimper she turned her head to look away, and as soon as she no longer felt it's claws on her, she turned back. Of course, it was gone.

In its place, a pocket watch now sat on the bed in between Sam's legs. Her head pounded and her heart raced. She stared at it, the second hands oddly ticking backward, the noise seeming to echo through the room. No words had been spoken from the monster, but as she stared down at the timepiece, Sam gained a faint understanding of what was to happen. Carefully, she brought her hand close to the watch, her fingers trembling as she looked at it.

The monster appeared at the foot of Sam's bed and once again made that horrific clicking noise. Despite having no eyes, it watched her moves carefully. Sam stared back at it, and then she suddenly pulled her hand away, refusing to touch the watch. It cocked it's head at her, placing both of its nightmarish hands on the footboard of the bed, slowly drawing in closer to her, but Sam had had enough.

Slowly and unblinkingly, she stood up. By this point, her pupils were nothing but tiny pinpricks as she stared the monster down. Unreal anger was inside her, and all rational thought had gone out the window at this point. Sam slowly walked towards the creature until she was standing directly in front of it. The thing turned to face her, looming over her as one of its hands stayed on the footboard, clicking its nails against the polished wood.

"Why?" Sam stupidly asked, as if she would actually get a response. She seriously doubted this thing would be capable of human speech, but with all those pills she kept taking, she was too high to care about anything at that point.

In response to her question, though, the creature bent down to bring his face closer to hers. It's terrible clicking noise picked up again, and he was face-to-face with her once more, it's mouth falling open slightly so she could get a better look at its many teeth. Sam tried her best to stand her ground, but her entire body began shaking as it brought its hands up to each side of her face.

The monster's hands hovered around Sam's head, almost completely engulfing her vision so all she saw was that horrid face. Sam's entire body was numb and she didn't feel the tears that had begun to fall from her eyes. Suddenly, the creature's mouth opened wider, and a long, grey tongue fell out of its jaws. Her eyes went wide, she tried to back away from him, but its claws grabbed the back of her head and pulled her face closer to its own.

Frantically, she tried pulling away, she put her hand on the thing's shoulders and chest and tried to push it off of her, but the creature's immeasurable strength kept her right where she was. One of its hands quickly went to her back, it's hand pressing her closer to it and its claws dug into her skin as she resisted. The creature's mouth opened up impossibly wide, and Sam began to scream.

The moment the shriek left her, the creature's vile tongue darted between her teeth and down her throat. Sam's eyes squinted closed as she fought even harder. She could feel every disgusting inch of its cold tongue as it wormed it's way farther down her throat. She pushed back against its chest and shoulders, its claws digging into her back and scalp so much it drew blood, but she couldn't get free. Tears kept streaming down Sam's cheeks as it pulled her closer and closer until there was no more room for her to pull away.

As the monster continued with its vulgar acts, Sam began to feel nauseous. She could feel the bile rise up in her until she began to wretch. Her body seized up, and as Sam's back arched forward, the monster vanished, and she fell forward onto the floor. On her hands and knees, Sam began to vomit, releasing the entire contents of her stomach, which was just stale beer and half-digested pills. Pain took her as she kept retching, nothing left to throw up, until there were just tears and spit leaking into the puddle of watery vomit into her bedroom floor.

Terrified, exhausted, and in so much pain, the world began to spin around her and Sam felt so dizzy. She tried to get up, but she blacked out. As she fell over, Sam never hit the floor.

For the second time, Sam woke up in her own bed. Her head pounded and her body ached, and when she tried to sit up the world still spun, but she didn't feel nearly as bad as she did before she passed out. As Sam reached up to move the hair out of her eyes, and just then realized the pocket watch was clutched tightly into her palm. Her heart rate picked up, staring down as the second hand ticked away. The sound it made didn't sync with the seconds though, but the ticking sound matched the beat of her racing heart.

Sam looked around her room, she could feel as if she wasn't alone, but she couldn't see the monster anywhere. She slid off her mattress and slowly walked over to her bedroom door that was now closed. She quickly glanced down at the foot of her bed where she had so violently thrown up, but there was nothing there. No trace left of what she puked up, and yet her stomach still felt empty.

She opened her bedroom door just a crack to look around her apartment, and upon seeing nobody there, she continued forward. The rest of her apartment was almost exactly as she had left it the night before. There was a broken beer bottle on the kitchen floor, the TV was still on, volume turned all the way up. She couldn't figure out why it didn't keep her up all night, but there were a lot of things she couldn't explain at that moment.

Still, though, Sam still felt as though she was being watched. She kept looking around, but there was nobody there. She took a moment to breathe, slowly, in and out, and then she looked down at the watch she still for some reason clutched to for dear life.

The banging on the apartment door made her jump.

Sam took a second to let her heart settle down and take one last look around her apartment before she opened the door. Her apartment was one that stood on the ground floor and opened up into a back alley where everyone put their trash. It wasn't the best, but she could afford it. As she opened the door, she stood face to face with the man that lived upstairs. He looked tired and angry, and when she saw him, a chill ran up her spine. She hated his voice. All she ever heard from him was the yelling he would do at his wife as he beat and berated her. Every time he would do so, he would always give Sam violent flashbacks to her own abuse.

"You look like shit." Were his first words to her. She probably did, but she didn't care.

"What do you want?" Sam's voice was hoarse, still exhausted at what she had been through.

"Turn off that fucking TV of yours," Her neighbor suddenly got angry, getting up in her face and sticking his pointer finger just inches from her nose. He was much taller than Sam and used that to try and intimidate her. It worked in the past, but as Sam stared up at him unblinkingly, she realized she wasn't afraid of him anymore. "That fucking thing has been blasting all night and I didn't get a goddamn minute of sleep. Turn that fucking thing off or so help me I will come in and do it for you." With that, he turned and left, stomping back into the building to get to his apartment.

Sam just stood there as she watched him leave. Her breathing got heavier and she clutched even harder at the watch in her hand. She could feel the presence of the monster standing just behind her, and instead of running, she closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the real monsters were the friends we made along the way?


	3. Chapter 3

Understanding wasn't quite the right word Sam would use, but it's the closest she could get. Ever since she was presented with that pocket watch, that thing became a part of her. Or she became a part of it. 

Since that day, Sam was never alone. Wherever she went, whatever she did, he was there. Always just out of sight. She would see him creeping along out of the corner of her vision, never getting a good look at him.

The only time he let her see him was when he needed something from her.

Sam quickly learned that she was being used for his bidding. He was inside her mind, telling her what to do and where to go, and wherever she went, death followed.

It started with the notes.

Over and over and over again it was the same thing. Sam would sit at her kitchen table writing more and more notes, throwing them onto the floor when she was done until the entire floor of her apartment was littered with the letters, all saying the same thing.

"If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece"

Sam got up and frantically gathered the notes. She slipped and fell on top of the papers a couple of times, hitting her head on the table as she did. Once they were all gathered into her arms she quickly turned and made her way to the bedroom to grab a duffle bag out from under her bed. There, she haphazardly shoved in all the papers, and as she got up to leave, there he was in the doorway.

Sam stumbled back, grabbing onto the bedpost and keeping her eyes down. Ever since he started appearing to her, Sam had been keeping her distance and refusing to look at his face. Attempting to keep some of her sanity intact, she always focused on the parts of him that actually looked human.

He wore a suit, finely shined shoes, and those fucking gloves. In some ways, he actually looked like a man, which is why she eventually stopped referring to the creature as 'it'. After some time he caught on and would sometimes appear to her kneeling down so she had no choice but to look the creature dead in the face, but now was not one of those times.

Now, he stood in the doorway of Sam's room, blocking her path.

"What now? I'm doing what you asked." Sam knew it was futile trying to talk with him. After everything, he hasn't said a single word. Not that she expected him to.

The Look-See stepped out of the doorway and towards Sam. She gripped the footboard of her bed tightly with both hands, keeping her eyes on his shoes as he approached. Sam couldn't help but tremble as she could feel his claws push her hair away from her face. They scraped along her skull and she closed her eyes, just wanting this to be over.

Of course, when she opened her eyes, he was gone.

Sam let out a shaky breath before continuing on her way.

~

Sam sat in the corner of a coffee shop, watching an empty table just outside the large shop window. She had a cup of coffee in her hands, the heat from the cup warming her cold fingers. She ignored the stares she got from the other people in the shop, she must have looked crazy sitting there, staring out into space like that, but she didn't care. She had a job to do, and no choice but to do it.

After about ten minutes of waiting and letting her coffee grow cold, she was beginning to think he wouldn't come. Sam sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes, sighing heavily. She assumed she had done something wrong. Would she be punished for failing him like this? Sam was about to get up when his red gloved hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to sit back down. She looked down at the claws that were pressing into her skin and then looked around at the other people in the coffee shop, hoping somebody would notice the hand holding her down. But nobody did.

Sam tried to turn around and look at the monster holding her down, but his grip tightened and she couldn't. That's when she spotted it, the man she was waiting for. She was focused on him, a tall white man in his mid-fifties, wearing a light jacket and ripped jeans. His brown hair was peppered with grey, and his dark eyes were bloodshot.

The stranger sat a few things on the table just on the other side of the shop window. He took out a blue hardcover book and flipped it open to a certain page, placing the bookmark down just next to it. He then shrugged off his jacket and draped it along the back of the chair on the opposite side of the table. He seemed methodical about his actions as if he performed this ritual each and every day. Sam wondered who exactly this man was, and why the Look-See wanted her to follow him.

When he stepped into the store, the little bell on the door ringing softly, Sam tried her best not to stare. She looked down at the table, grabbing her coffee cup and sipping at the now cooled drink. She glanced up and noticed the man walking by her, giving her an odd look, but eventually ignoring her and stepping up to the counter.

He gave the barista the name Markel. Sam watched him out of the corner of her eye, he'd taken his phone out and started texting, but he continuously glanced outside at the table where he set his things. After some time, the woman behind the counter came back with two coffee cups.

"Good to see you again, John." She smiled as she handed the coffees over. Her voice was low and sounded apathetic almost. He returned with a curt smile and quickly made his way back outside to his table.

Sam studied him intently, watching his every move. When he got back to his own table, he placed one coffee cup on his side of the table, while he put the other down next to the book he'd set up earlier. He sat across from the book as if someone should have been sitting there with him.

This is what the Look-See meant when it wanted Sam to find him. Perhaps the book represented a lost loved one, someone he shared this morning routine with every day until they were gone. She wanted to know more about him, about why the Look-See was after him, so she took out her phone and did a quick search of his name. She didn't have much time to search, however, as her cup was tipped over and some of her coffee spilled over into her lap.

"Shit," Sam quietly cursed to herself. She grabbed her cup and tossed her phone into her back pocket before heading over to grab some napkins from a nearby dispenser. As she patted her pants dry she glanced back outside towards the man and saw it. Two hands in fingerless red gloves with claws for fingers reaching up behind the man's head.

Before the hands touched the man, he turned around curiously. This was Sam's chance. Walking briskly towards the entrance, as the man was still distracted, she pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket and slipped it in between the pages of the book before walking away. Sam got all the way to her car that was parked on the other side of the street before the man at the table turned back around.

She watched from her car as the man noticed the fluttering page in the book that Sam had just placed. He picked it up and read it, and she could see him become physically angry. He crumpled up the page and threw it into a nearby storm drain. After his little outburst, he picked up the book and grabbed his jacket, almost running to his car and peeling out of the lot.

Sam didn't bother looking into her passenger seat, she knew the Look-See was there, and what he expected of her. Sam started up her car and followed the man all the way back to his home.

~

Sam sat alone in her car. She'd been parked in front of this apartment building for hours now, darkness had fallen and the only light she had was the light from her phone.

John Markel, the man Sam had followed. As she waited she continued her web search of him, trying to get as much information as she could about the man she was sure was going to die tonight. Apparently there had been a huge court case involving him. His wife had died under mysterious circumstances, and of course, being the husband, he was the first to be investigated. All charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, but speculation still stood.

"Did he actually kill his wife?" Sam said quietly to herself. Did he kill her and regret it? That could be an explanation as to why he created his little morning ritual. She heard a muffled crash and flinched. Looking up at one of the apartments, she could see the silhouette of the man from before running frantically, trying to get away from something. Sam watched helplessly as his shadow disappeared, and then all of a sudden something else rose up from underneath the window. She could tell it was him, the Look-See.

Sam slouched in her seat, trying desperately to ignore the sounds from coming above her. She lit up a cigarette, her hands shaking as she did so. She glanced up for just a moment to see that spots of blood covered the window, and she quickly looked back down.

The screaming stopped almost as soon as it started. When she looked back up towards the apartment window, all the lights had gone out. Sam was sure he was done now, the man was dead. He'd be back any-

The clicking noise started up in the passenger seat of her car.

Sam jumped and looked over, almost hissing at him. "You're a son of a bitch," She muttered as she took a long drag of her cigarette. In response he brought his hand over, his claws dripping with blood, and ran them up the leg of her jeans.

"Stop!" She shouted, trying to pull away from the Look-See and his blood-covered fingers. He slowly pulled his hand back and rested it into his lap, smiling down at Sam as she shivered. "Tell me," She said with a shaking voice. "Just... Tell me he actually did kill his wife. Just to make me feel better." He tilted his head at her question. She'd never seen him confused before, but this might be it. She didn't say anything, not really knowing how he would respond to her. He's never really answered any of her questions before, why start now?

But Sam was surprised. Slowly, but sure enough, the Look-See nodded his head at her. She almost dropped her cigarette when he did that. She looked down at the bloodstains on her pants and thought hard for a moment.

"How do you know these thi-" Sam cut herself off when she looked back and he was gone. She took a few minutes to herself to process what had happened that night. She finished her cigarette and lit up another before she made the long drive home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even darker we go

Sam sat on top of one of the garbage cans in the alley just outside her apartment door. She was smoking and looking through her phone as she waited. It was getting cold outside, summer was ending and as night crept in, so did the chill. Sam had been on a wild ride these last few months, and it had been getting easier for her to handle, but she still needed... Help.

"Hey there Mrs. Ching Chong." The voice made her jump. She'd been doing that a lot lately, you'd think she'd be over this by now.

"You're so fucking racist, Brayden." Sam sighed and hopped off her trash can to greet the boy. He was just a teenager, a white kid from a nicer neighborhood in the area. He held out his fist and Sam bumped her own against it.

"For what, pointing out that you're Chinese?"

"I'm Korean, you dipshit."

"Whatever." Brayden tossed his backpack onto the floor of the alleyway and rummaged through it, grabbing a bottle of pills and tossing them to Sam. She studied them in her hands, turning the bottle over and reading the label.

"Your mom still being a bitch?" She asked as she tossed her cigarette to the ground and stepping on it as she searched through her pockets for cash.

He scoffed. "Of course she is. Thinks she's so fucking smart. She kicked me out. Again."

"Listen, you're kind of a dick too, to be honest." Sam handed over the cash and he snatched it out of her hand.

"Whatever. Hey, can I crash with you again?"

Sam thought for a moment. "That's... Not a good idea right now." He shrugged and grabbed his backpack, getting ready to leave, but Sam grabbed his wrist. He looked confused and she hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "Hey, do me a favor... This fight with your mom, just, let it go... You're both assholes. Just, go home tonight and apologize to her."

"What the fuck do you know?" Brayden asked as he pulled his wrist from her grasp.

"More than you."

"Whatever."

Sam just stood there and watched him leave. As he rounded the corner and left, she could feel _his _presence standing just beside her. Sam pocketed the bottle of pills and lit up another cigarette, letting the wind blow her hair back.

"Are you mad at me for doing that?" She asked, mostly to herself. "I know better than to get in your way, but not everyone deserves to die." All she heard in response was the faint clicking noise coming from him. She stood outside her apartment door for a while longer, and eventually, she felt him leave her alone.

"What are you doing out here, little girl?" Sam's heart rate picked up when she heard the voice of her upstairs neighbor approach. Quickly, she threw her cigarette into a puddle in the street and opened the door of her apartment, but a hand grabbed her own and slammed the door closed so she couldn't get in.

Sam turned with her back to the door, looking up at her neighbor as he loomed over her like a predator. His breath reeked of alcohol and he swayed back and forth as he stood there, keeping her from going anywhere. He was a big man, maybe six feet tall, and had a heavy southern accent. He wore sweatpants and an opened button shirt. She could tell he was hard, the bulge in his sweats was obvious, and he didn't bother hiding it as he stood uncomfortably close to her.

"Were you out here waiting for me, Sweetheart?" He asked, leaning his arm on the doorframe above her.

"I can't stay and chat, Charlie, I gotta go-"

"No, you don't." Once again he grabbed her hand that was clutching her doorknob. He brought his face down close to hers and Sam started feeling sick from the stench of his breath. "You know, the walls here are real thin. I can hear you crying, sometimes all through the night. Next time I hear that I feel I should come around and shut you up."

Sam was stuck now, unable to get out. She didn't so much fear him anymore, but she knew if he grabbed her, she wouldn't be able to get him off. She was strong, but not strong enough. Not knowing what else to do, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, silently asking for help.

"What are you- Ah fuck!" Charlie pulled his hand away and stepped back, looking down at the long scratch marks on the back of his hand going all the way up his arm. He was bleeding badly, and Sam knew exactly where that came from. "What'd you do?" Charlie looked up at her furiously, and as he lunged at her, Sam quickly retreated back into her apartment and slammed the door in his face.

She hurriedly locked it but kept her shoulder pressed up against the door just in case. Charlie pounded on the other side of the door, yelling for her to come back out.

Sam stayed like that for a long time, Charlie pounding away on her door, spitting curses and racial slurs at her. Sam's head began to spin as memories came flooding back to her brain. She had worked so hard at getting rid of them, but when they came back, she was left a crying mess.

Even long after Charlie gave up and left, Sam was still sitting by the door, her face pressed into her knees as she cried. Her body was aching and her lips felt dry, and eventually, she calmed down enough to rest her cheek on her knee and look out across the room.

He was there again. The Look-See. Who had been haunting Sam for so long now, but she wasn't as afraid anymore. He hadn't hurt her again since their initial encounter, and just now, he helped her.

Sam rubbed her eyes and when she opened them, he was just inches from her face. The monster was down on the floor, making his terrible clicking noises as he got up close and personal with her.

"Hey..." She said softly, staring at the horribly intimidating monster that took up all her vision. "You don't take requests, do you?"

~

Charlie sat at his kitchen table as his wife tried to patch up his arm the best she could. He was drinking straight from a bottle of whiskey as she placed pieces of gauze haphazardly on the cuts leading up his arm. As she's working, her fingers slip and her nails graze along his tender, sliced open flesh.

"Jesus, fuck, Lisa, be more careful!" He spat at her and she flinched. 

After his wife finished patching up his arm, Charlie took his usual seat in the living rooming directly in front of the tv while his wife cooked dinner. He was drinking a can of beer, ice-cold, condensation still dripping from the can. Every once in a while he would bring it to a particularly sore spot on his arm and let it cool down his angry flesh.

Rain picked up outside, starting at just a trickle and picking up into a heavy downpour. Lightning flashed just outside the window and thunder shook the entire apartment building. For just a moment the power cut out and the TV flashed on and off. Charlie spit a mumbled curse at the TV as he picked his beer up off the table near his chair. When he did, he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the bottom of the can. Curiously, he took the paper, a wet ring from the can staining over the words.

"If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece"

"Lisa, what the fuck is this?" Charlie angrily called to the kitchen at his wife.

From there, she paused, her heart skipping a beat as she dreaded hearing her husband angry. Hopefully, he would be too drunk to remember why he's angry and she quietly continued working on dinner. Another crash of thunder came around and she jumped, slipping with the knife and slicing her finger open. Her hand trembled as she ran it under water and then grabbed a kitchen rag to soak up the blood. Leaving the kitchen she headed to the bathroom to get something to stop the bleeding, and as soon as she entered, the door closed behind her and locked.

"Charlie?" She asked curiously and then reached back, trying the doorknob. She jiggled it and it wouldn't move. She tried to undo the lock on the handle and it wouldn't budge either, she was trapped.

The power went out.

Charlie slowly got up from his chair and looked around the apartment, scanning around. His paranoia kicked in when he went to the kitchen and saw that his wife was gone.

"Lisa?" He called out, but not loud enough for her to hear over another rumble of thunder. Charlie was about to leave the kitchen to go looking for his wife, but he was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw something sitting on the kitchen table. There, illuminated by a street lamp shining through the window, was another note.

"If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece"

Charlie angrily grabbed at the note to try and crumple it up, but a large kitchen knife came crashing down into the back of his hand. He screamed and tried to pull away, but the knife was embedded into the table and he couldn't break free. Blood pooled onto the note and started dripping off of the table. As he was trying to free himself, his foot landed on the puddle of his own blood and he slipped and fell. The knife cut right through his hand, slicing him from his palm to the space in between his middle and ring fingers.

Charlie held his wrist and clenched his teeth, unable to properly process what was going on. It was then that he looked up and saw Sam standing right next to him, looking down and smiling.

"Y-you bitch!" He spat at her. Slowly and heavily he got to his feet, still grasping tightly at his wrist. Sam grabbed the knife and pulled it out of the table, it had embedded itself so far in and yet she pulled it out like nothing. "How fucking dare you," He growled. He was about to lunge at Sam, but he stopped. Charlie stood frozen as he stared at the most menacing creature he had ever seen.

The Look-See stood just behind her, looming over like the demon he was. Charlie opened his mouth to scream again and Sam took the opportunity to lunge at him. She sunk the knife deep into his chest and knocked him onto his back. He put his hands up to defend himself, but she was relentless. She ripped the knife out and stabbed him again in the throat, quieting his screams to just frantic gurgling.

Sam sat on top of Charlie and stabbed him over and over again until the blood that squirted out of his chest completely painted her face.

It wasn't until Sam had stabbed him so hard that she was unable to pull the knife out that she stopped her assault. Her body shook as she slowly stood up, dripping with Charlie's blood and viscera. She took a step back, looking down at the mangled body now lying in a growing pool of blood. After a few shaky breaths she let her head roll back and looked up towards the ceiling letting the tears fall.

As Sam leaned back, her head came resting down onto the Look-See's chest as he stood behind her. Reaching up with both of his hands, the claws on his fingertips trailed down from her cheeks to her neck, drawing lines in the blood and tears on her face.

The ticking of the pocket watch Sam kept with her had gotten louder,

Louder

_Louder_

_ **Louder** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, baby's first murder <3


	5. Chapter 5

Sam bolted out of the upstairs apartment and out into the rain. It had been colder than she expected, but the icy downpour washed off most of the blood before she even made it home.

Inside the apartment, as soon as Sam left, the bathroom door that trapped Charlie's wife came unlocked. Slowly she stepped out into the kitchen, and there she saw her husband had been brutally murdered. The screams she let out could be heard from everyone in the building, except Sam.

Sam didn't even bother undressing before throwing herself in the shower. She stood under the scalding hot water, letting the blood wash away and into the drain. Eventually, once she had stopped shaking, she began taking her clothes off and tossing them to the floor of the tub. She stood naked under the hot water until the bathroom filled with steam and she couldn't see two feet in front of her.

Leaving the bathroom, completely naked and dripping wet, Sam went right to the bottle of pills she had hiding in her jacket pocket and swallowed two of them. She glanced over to the corner of the room where the Look-See was watching her every move, and she did her best to ignore him. Sam stared at herself in the mirror, pushing her hair back and trying to get a good look at herself. She didn't look different, now that she's taken someone's life, but she sure as hell felt different.

Not wanting to be naked anymore under his gaze, Sam grabbed a pair of tattered pajama pants and a tank top, throwing them on and getting back close into the mirror. She looked herself in the eyes, pulling her eyelids back and examining herself thoroughly. Once the mirror got too foggy from her breath, Sam stepped back and looked at herself once more.

Dark eyes stared back, the same ones she had yesterday, and the day before that. The only difference was that she no longer hated what she saw in the mirror. Instead, she accepted it. Sam accepted the murder she was.

Once again he was behind her before she realized what was going on. In the reflection, she only saw him from the neck down. It looked like just a regular man was standing behind her. That was until he brought his hand up to her neck. Black claws reached up and Sam lifted her chin, letting him run his rough nails against her skin. She watched herself in the mirror as this bizarre scene played out. With careful movements, Sam brought up her own hand. She didn't dare touch his skin, but she brought her fingertips and gently placed them on the back of his glove.

From her touch, the air around them grew cold. The Look-See's movements froze completely, and that ominous ticking noise bubbled up from his throat. Sam didn't dare move, leaving her hand right where it was, just barely grazing the back of his glove. In an apparent attempt to intimidate her, he brought his face in close to Sam's. His sharp teeth were close enough to barely graze her cheek.

Sam's next move seemed to surprise even him, as she then turned to face him head-on. All noise in the room quieted except for the ticking of the pocket watch that seemed to be louder than ever. All of a sudden, he moved his hand, his fingers slowly snaking around her throat and grasped tightly. This cause fear to bubble up from Sam's stomach once more and she panicked. She grabbed at his wrist with both her hands and tried to pull him off, trying to get out of his grasp, and then he was gone.

Sam stood alone in her bedroom, looking at herself in the mirror. A faint red mark was beginning to appear at her throat.

~

Over the next few months, Sam continued working as the proxy of the Look-See. She would stalk his next victims, leaving his cryptic messages everywhere they went. Death became something she was accustomed to, something she almost enjoyed.

Since the night of the murder she herself had committed, she watched on the local news as the wife Lisa was tried and convicted of her husband's brutal killing. There was no evidence left of Sam in their apartment, and there was something else that she hadn't done. When the police arrived and found Charlie's body, his hands had been removed at the wrists, leaving only bloody stumps. The police never found any trace of what happened to them, and Sam could only imagine that this was the doing of the Look-See.

Sam had fallen into her role of proxy rather well, perhaps too well, as being followed by a monster everywhere she went had an effect on her psyche. She started talking to him, even when she couldn't see him, as she knew he was listening always. At one point she found herself asking him questions she somehow already knew the answers to. Sometimes she was frightened at how easily this all came to her, and she decided that maybe she should do something about the monster that she herself had been turning into.

She needed to talk to someone. To anyone. Perhaps all that was going on was only in her own mind. She was still at the age of when most young women become diagnosed with schizophrenia, and she needed confirmation.

Was she just going crazy?

Crazy wasn't the right word. That was too harsh. If she had a horrific mental illness and was doing these things all on her own, she had to find out. To know for sure if he was even real.

Sam was very choosy in her therapist. When she finally found him, Dr. Cheshire Broach, she scheduled an appointment as soon as she could get in. She didn't have the best memories of therapists or doctor's offices like this from when she was younger, but in her current line of work, she couldn't afford to dwell on the past.

The first thing Sam noticed as she sat in the waiting room was that she was the only patient there. She kept her phone in her hand and head down, but she would occasionally glance around to all the empty chairs around the room. Something felt off and she couldn't quite place it. But, Sam spent a lot of money on this appointment and wasn't about to give up now.

"You look nervous," A soft voice said from nearby. Sam realized the receptionist had been staring at her, and Sam did her best to give a polite smile back. "There's nothing to worry about, dear," She gave Sam a warm look. "He's wonderful at what he does, trust me." She gave a quiet giggle and looked back down at her typing. That did nothing for Sam's nerves.

After a few more minutes had passed, the receptionist gathered up some papers and stepped out of the office, leaving Sam all alone. It was far too quiet, and the only sound was that damn ticking from the pocket watch. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and clutched it tightly. With a heavy sigh, she slumped down into her chair, leaning her head back against the wall behind her.

Something grabbed her ankle and Sam jumped. She tried to pull back, but the grip was too strong. She looked down and saw _his_ mangled face as he held tight onto her with his claws.

"Stop," Sam quietly pleaded, trying to keep her voice from shaking. He didn't let up and instead crawled up from underneath her chair. He brought himself up, looming over her menacingly, and he grabbed the back of the chair she was sitting on. "Please..." With a trembling hand, she reached up and touched his chest, trying to push him back.

Sam whipped her head around when she heard a door open nearby. Dr. Broach stood in the doorway, looking at his clipboard, and was about to speak when he looked up at Sam in confusion. She must have looked like an idiot just then. She was all alone, her legs tucked underneath her and her hand up defensively. He seemed to give her an almost knowing smile.

"Lu, comma, Sung-Mi?" He motioned towards her.

Sam let out a shaky breath and stood up, brushing herself off. Her hand still felt cold from touching the monster's chest. He was as cold as a corpse, she thought. After giving herself a moment she smiled back at the doctor and followed him into his office. 

"So on the paperwork here you wrote in you prefer to go by 'Sam' correct?" He asked, motioning for her to take a seat on the couch. He seemed rather charismatic, the doctor. His smile stretched wide across his face, something Sam didn't really find all that comforting. His clothes were perfectly pressed, his tie on tight. Something just felt off about this man. It could have just been her nerves, though, as she just had the crap scared out of her.

"Yeah, a lot of the teachers at my elementary school couldn't figure out how to say my name, so they called me Sammy, and eventually Sam kinda stuck." She sat down, her hand sliding into her pocket once more to grip the watch.

"Well, I want you to tell me all about yourself, Sam. But before we begin, let me start with my one rule: that you lie, but never lie." The doctor's smile seemed to grow wider at Sam's visible confusion. "What I mean by that, is, that you lie on my couch, but you do not like from your mouth." 

Sam gave a small nod and started lying down. As she tried to make herself comfortable, the doctor walked over to the window and pulled the curtains closed, the sun now shining through the red fabric, giving the room an odd glow. He walked back over to his desk and picked up what looked to Sam was an egg timer. He set the clock and it started ticking.

"Now I want you to relax," The doctor said as he slowly stepped around the desk and took a seat in the chair he had positioned just next to the couch. "Close your eyes and tell me why you're here today, let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

As Sam closed her eyes and tried to figure out where to start, the ticking of the watch in her jacket pocket vibrated against her hand, distracting her slightly as both of the clocks went off at once. Hesitantly, she took her hand out of her pocket and rested it on her stomach.

"I tried to kill myself." Was the first thing she admitted out loud. She couldn't see the look on his face, but by his silence, she could tell he was somewhat surprised.

"Can you tell me why?"

"I... Couldn't let go of my past."

"And what was it, about your past, were you unable to let go of?"

Sam couldn't respond. As she brought back all the memories that completely destroyed her, a cold sense of dread crept up her spine. No, she couldn't let those memories resurface. Not only would she become a complete wreck, but her life would be put at stake. She was sure the only reason she was alive right now was because she let go of all that. She refused to even acknowledge it anymore. If it was brought back now, especially if he were angry, there was a good chance she wouldn't make it out of this alive...

"Sam?" Dr. Broach's voice broke her from her thoughts and she shook her head.

"That's not what I'm here to talk about." Her fingers picked at one of the buttons on her shirt.

"Then tell me..." The doctor's voice got very low, and she could hear him shift out of the chair and open a drawer on his desk. Sam heard the scraping of metal on the wooden desk, and then a sharp ringing in her ears. Her head began to swim and she felt dizzy. "What brings you here?" The doctor's voice was almost a whisper as he knelt down to talk into her ear. "Open that door for me."

Almost as if she was falling into a dream, Sam suddenly found herself at home. She was standing in front of her kitchen table, the only light being a lamp directly overhead. Everything around her was dark, and the only thing she could see was the table, surrounded by two chairs.

And the gun.

Slowly she walked towards the table and sat down. She stared down at the cold piece of metal and breathed heavily, a weight unlike any other sitting on her shoulders. Her heart pounded in her ears, the ringing still making her head spin. Slowly, her hand reached towards the gun sitting on the table, and as she was about to touch it, a clawed hand in a red glove reached out from the darkness and grabbed her wrist.

Sam's eyes opened and she jolted awake. She looked over at the doctor, and he seemed visibly shaken. He held a tuning fork in his hand and knelt down close to her. After taking a minute to regain himself, he cleared his throat.

"I know that going through things like this can be frightening, but... We have to take this one step at a time. Just breathe, and close your eyes."

Sam did as she was told. Once again she closed her eyes and focused on the ticking of the timer the doctor had set. The ringing in her ears picked back up, and she was once again standing in the dark room in front of her kitchen table. This time, though, Sam felt as if she was walking through knee-deep water. Her movements were slow and forceful. It felt as though it took her hours to walk the two steps to the table and sit back down again. The beating of her heart picked back up and the ringing got louder. The light in the lamp sitting above the table flickered a bit as she reached for the gun. It was warm now as if it had already been shot. The warmth was welcomed into her cold hands, and she lifted it off the table.

This time, the hands that appeared from the darkness wore white gloves. She sat frozen for a moment as the pair of hands appeared. They had pale, jagged claws at the end of each finger. One of the hands rested underneath the barrel of the gun, helping Sam hold it up, while the other gently touched the back of her hand. Her eyes trailed from the hands, up the arms, seeing a handsomely tailored black suit.

What caught her off guard, though, was the mask.

The first thing she saw was that smile. Horrid, pointed teeth covered the entire lower half of its face, the mouth looking as if it had blood smeared everywhere. Its skin was stark white, its eye sunken in and sickly yellow. The hair on its head looked like a mass of red flame. The more she stared, the more she realized it wasn't a mask, but instead its _face_. Sam's hands shook looking at it, as it sat across from her at the table. She wanted so desperately to wake up, but she couldn't.

Oh so delicately, the monster that sat across from her encouraged her to lift the gun higher. His hands pushed hers, giving her gentle aid to lift the gun slowly to her head. It didn't say a word, but instead just kept his hand on hers until the barrel of the gun was pressed against her temple. While one hand still rested on the gun, the other reached over and gently caressed her cheek.

Sam's head was spinning and she didn't fully understand what was going on, but as soon as she heard the low, rumbling sound she had come to be familiar with, she knew.

Out from the darkness, from behind Sam, stepped the Look-See. Its hands reached out over her towards the frightening entity that was encouraging her to shoot herself. Sam saw the creature reel back away, and she opened her eyes when she heard something crash to the floor.

Bolting upright, Sam looked around to see Dr. Broach had fallen onto the floor, staring at her with wide eyes. He was breathing heavily and leaning back onto his hands, trying to move farther away. That's when Sam realized, he wasn't trying to get away from _her_. From underneath the couch where she lay, the red gloved hands of the Look-See emerged. Its claws dug into the wood floor, leaving scratches as he pulled himself out and into the room. He stood upright, looking down at the doctor with its eyeless face.

Sam watched as the Look-See reached out its hands towards the doctor, and she ran. She ran out of the room, out of the building, to the parking lot, and got into her car. She hyperventilated, holding tightly onto the steering wheel, trying her best to calm herself down so she could get home.

~

Once home, Sam slammed the door to her apartment shit and dropped her keys onto the floor. She was still shaken from what had happened, and about to fall apart. She could feel immense anger coming from him, and she looked up to see him standing at the other end of the room, staring her down.

"I'm sorry." Sam said as she walked up to him. He held his hands up, close to her face but not quite touching her. A dangerous growl left his mouth, but before he did anything else, Sam dropped to her knees onto the floor. "I'm sorry." She repeated, looking down at his shoes and letting the hair fall over her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're real. You're really here. I know that now, for sure." The ticking of the pocket watch echoed through the house, and she pulled it from her pocket and held it close to her chest.

In a surprising move, he knelt down to the floor. He still loomed over Sam as she sat there beneath him, but the Look-See brought his hands up and grabbed her head. He wasn't rough with her, though. Instead, he slowly made her look up at him as he brought his face close to hers.

"You're real," Sam whispered. She felt relief wash over her. "You're real."


	6. Chapter 6

The music danced from Sam's phone and echoed off her bathroom walls. She had just gotten out of the shower and was staring at herself closely in the mirror as she applied makeup. Smooth foundation, light blush, some old eyelid glue she found at the back of her bathroom drawer. She threw on some fake eyelashes and topped it all off with pale red lips.

Sam grabbed her phone and skipped a couple of songs. She didn't know what music her companion liked listing to if any at all, but she figured a little something wouldn't hurt.

Her hair had gotten long, longer than she's ever let it grow before, and she settled by putting it up in a loose bun. Retreating to her bedroom, she pulled a dress out of her closet she hadn't worn in years. It was a white cocktail dress with short sleeves and flared out at the knees. She slipped into it, surprised it still fit, and topped it off with a black belt around her waist. She rolled on some thigh high stockings and slipped on a pair of black flats.

Before she left her apartment, Sam looked at herself in the mirror one last time. It had been ages since she saw herself looking this nice for any reason whatsoever. She touched her face, trying to see passed the eyes she looked at herself with. She let out one last sigh and then let her hair down out of the bun, letting it fall over her shoulders like a black veil that enveloped her. For a finishing touch, Sam took the pocket watch and wound the chain around her neck, letting it sit on her breastbone like a pendant. She wasn't going to be winning any beauty contestant any time soon, but she was at least content with the character she dressed herself up to be.

She had to look the part, after all.

It was just starting to get dark out when she got into her car. By the time she hit the highway, however, it was pitch black. She had to drive carefully, there was no telling what lived in the woods around her town. And after everything she had seen, Sam would believe anything. Once she hit a long stretch of road with no turns or bends, she felt confident enough to speed up. She was going well over the limit when lights flashed to life on the hood of the car behind her.

She slowed to a stop at the side of the road, the gravel crunching under the wheels of her car. She gripped the steering wheel as the headlights pulled up behind. In the rearview mirror, she could see the shadow of the police officer walking up to her car. She then saw a flash of that nightmarish face in her back seat, and suddenly, she felt at ease. Sam rolled down her window when the officer approached, and then gripped the steering wheel with both her fists. He didn't even bother to hide his scoff when he saw her. 

"License and registration." The officer said flatly. He had taken out his ticket book and already started writing.

"What's the problem, offic-"

"I said, license and registration." He didn't even let her finish speaking. He shot her a warning glance and held his hand out expectedly. She sighed and reached over for the bag she had on the floor of her passenger seat. There she grabbed her wallet, her driver's license from inside, and a folded up piece of paper. She took her registration out of her glove box and handed everything over.

"Ma'am, do you know how fast you were going?" He asked, his tone flat and bored. He had begun writing down her information but paused when he saw the paper. Carefully he unfolded it, revealing a note scribbled out in bold lettering.

"If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece"

The man became visibly angry as he read the note. Sam could feel the air around him heat up and she didn't like it. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles going white.

"Is this a joke to you?" He nearly spat at her.

"What do you mean?"

He grit his teeth and when he opened his mouth to speak again, he paused. Looking back down into his hands, he realized, the note was gone. This play just seemed to set him off even more, and he quickly pocketed her papers and took a step back.

"Get out of the car." He ordered. Sam, with fear creeping in at the pit of her stomach, did what she was told. When she stepped out of the car, the police officer roughly grabbed her arm. "Hands on the roof of the car." He said as he forcibly turned her around. As the two of them stood in the darkness, the only light coming from the cop car's headlights, Sam could sense something dangerous in the air.

"But I didn't do anything wrong." Sam tried to plead with him, but he pushed her against her own car and she had no choice but to comply.

"Shut up." He hissed. As Sam faced away from him, the officer began patting her down. He started near her chest, his hands wrapping around and groping her small breasts in a rather lude fashion. She could feel his eyes on her like an animal stares at its prey. And that's exactly what she was to him as he grabbed her in all the wrong places. His hands wrapped around her waist then moved to her ass and felt her up. His hands went back to her waist, squeezing her sides far too hard. He then traveled downwards again, his fingers lingering on her hips for just a moment, before he head the crinkle of paper in the pocket of her dress. Reaching in, he took out a crumpled note, almost the same as the one before. Flattening out the wrinkled paper on top of the car, he then held it in front of Sam's face for her to see. He placed a hand on her back and pressed the front of her body into the car, keeping her from wriggling away from him.

"So, you think this is funny, huh?" He asked, and then crumpled the paper and threw it to the ground. The cop then roughly grabbed Sam by the wrists and pulled them behind her back. Natural instinct kicked in for her and she fought against him. In response, he pushed Sam back against the car so hard she hit her chin against the roof, biting her tongue. The officer slipped on a pair of handcuffs, and when Sam heard them click into place, her breath hitched.

The taste of blood in her mouth and the feeling of being restrained against her will was too much. Violently, Sam tried to wrestle herself away from the cop. She wasn't nearly a match for him, though, as he grabbed her arms and tried to haul her back to his car. Somehow, as he was repositioning his grip on her, she slipped away. She backed up into the trunk of her car, but he caught her.

"You wanna fight me so bad, huh?" He said as he grabbed her waist and pushed her back against the trunk of her own car. With one swift movement, the palm of his hand came crashing down onto the side of her face. She was stunned for a moment, and a trickle of blood fell out from between her lips. The officer's lips curled into a smile when he saw the look of fear in her eyes. He raised his hand once again and stopped.

His attention was taken away from Sam to something in the back window of her car. Sam heard the ferocious ticking noise and felt relief. He backed up away from her, his eyes wide with fear. Sam's handcuffs clicked open and she grabbed them, holding them up for the officer to see that she was now free. Once he saw that, he quickly regained his bearings and lunged for her again to attack.

Black claws were trust through him entirely, from his back to his chest. The Look-See stood behind him, the tips of his claws sticking out of the front of the man's chest. The officer didn't seem to know what was going on at first, and he coughed. A spray of blood flew from his mouth and spattered over Sam, her face, chest, and the front of her white dress. He looked down to see the claws now sticking out of his chest, and something inside his mind broke just then.

The Look-See bent down over the man, growling into his ear. The officer started panicking, his breathing labored, and blood kept pouring out of his mouth. Before the Look-See did anything else, Sam stepped up and reached into his pocket, reclaiming the paperwork she gave him earlier. She placed them into her own pocket, took a step back, and simply smiled at him.

He began to sputter out a scream, and with unreal strength, the man was thrown onto the ground a ways away. Sam didn't bother to stay and watch, and instead went back to her car and sat down. She lit up a cigarette and kept her windows rolled down so she could listen to the frantic screams of the police officer. His pathetic cries echoed through the night and continued on for what felt like an eternity. She was sure he had been properly tortured, and eventually, his screams turned into pained gurgling. She stayed there, just listening to him die until the world was once again silent.

~

The drive home felt longer than the drive out. Sam couldn't see him, but his presence with her was the strongest she had ever felt. She wrapped her red lips around her cigarette and breathed in slowly, then rested her arm on the open window, the wind whipping her long hair back.

"You know," She said slyly to an empty car. "All these men that keep grabbing me all the time. They always go about it all wrong, you know? If they just ask my permission, they'd know what a kinky bitch I am and that I'm totally into that shit. But, instead, they have to go ahead and grab me without even asking first. That's why they all end up dead. Am I right?" She chuckled, the high she got from these murders seemed to be increasing. That, and the constant supply of opiates she took.

"So," She continued. "Any other plans for tonight?" Her fingers reached up and trailed along the pocket watch she tied around her neck.

Sam's heart nearly stopped when she saw a creature in the middle of the road. As fast as she could, Sam shot both hands to the steering wheel and hit the brakes so hard the tires left marks on the road. She skidded to a stop directly in front of it, the headlights illuminating the creature. A huge, horrific, animal-like skull sat on top of this creature's shoulders with large, gnarled antlers protruding from its head. It seemed to wear people's clothes, a hunter's coat and jeans. Sam could barely make sense of what she was seeing before it approached, walking around to the driver's side of the car. She dropped her cigarette to the floor and backed away from the window, trying to reach the buckle of her seatbelt.

The creature reached its hand into the window and Sam broke free from her seatbelt, clambering back into the passenger seat of the car. It's arm reached in farther after her, grabbing at her ankle, and she shrieked. She kicked at it, trying to pull herself away, to no avail. It wasn't until another car rounded the corner and came upon them. The creature jumped back into view of the other driver and let out the most hair raising roar she had ever heard. Sam watched as the car swerved out of the way from hitting it, and right into her own car.

Both cars broke through the guardrail and went crashing down the hill into the forest. Sam's car was thrown and flipped, sending her flying out of the car, and she blacked out before hitting the forest floor.

~

The world was fuzzy when she came to. It was dark, but she saw a light nearby and tried to look towards that. The pain came next, going from a dull ache to a throbbing sharpness in her head. Her limbs felt like they weighed a ton and she reached up to grab her head. She looked at her hand and saw blood, coming from her own scalp. She cursed and tried to get up, the world spinning.

Sam realized she couldn't hear the ticking of the pocket watch. She couldn't hear anything, really, as all the sound around her had just turned into a faint ringing. Frantically, she reached up to her neck and touched the watch that was still securely tied to her. She rolled onto her back and sighed, at least thankful that it was still there.

Sam waited, just lying there until she could feel her limbs again, and her hearing and vision returned. Slowly, she got to her feet and looked around. The two cars that came crashing down into the forest were lying together, broken and mangled. One of them had a fire roaring from the engine. Sam had no idea how she survived what had happened, but she'd dwell on it later. She heard sobbing nearby and saw that a man was clutching the corpse of one of the passengers in the other car. She walked up, seeing the man crying heavily over the dead and bloody woman. Slowly she got to her knees and put her hands on his shoulders. The man jumped and stared at her, not knowing what to do, but slowly dissolved back into sobs.

She rubbed his shoulder, letting him cry until that same horrific roar from before echoed around them. Her heart raced and she looked around for the creature. She scrambled to her feet, clutching at the man's jacket and trying to pry him away from the body of the woman.

"Come on, we have to go!" She yelled, and after a few more tugs, the man was on his feet and running with her.

Sam ran as fast as her legs could possibly take her. Her heart raced and her lungs burned, but she didn't dare stop for anything. She looked back, seeing the man from the crash still following her. The roar from the monster came back, louder than before. She tried to speed up, but the forest was starting to get thicker and having to make her way through the trees was starting to slow her down.

Where was he? She needed him now more than ever and she had no idea where he was. She couldn't feel him around her, there was intense pressure in this forest that weighed heavily on her chest.

The snarl that came from the woods was far too close for comfort. Sam looked back for just a moment and she saw the fearsome creature leap out of the darkness at the man. He reached out towards Sam and grabbed her dress, pulling her to the ground with him. The monster ripped into the man's chest and he screamed as blood went everywhere. Sam scrambled to her feet, a shoe falling off in the process, and she kept running, leaving the screaming man to die.

There was an orange glow nearby. A fire? Probably people. She bolted in that direction, hoping for someplace safe to hide. Even as she ran she could still hear the ripping of flesh and the cracking of bones from the man she left for dead. Soon enough, she reached the light source and came to a clearing in the forest. It looked like a ritual site, almost. A nest of tree branches formed into a half-circle, bones strewn about, animal skulls hanging from trees. The torches nearby illuminated the area and a black mass that rested on the forest floor.

Sam stopped breathing. Dread crept in and her hair stood on end.

The black mass that rested in the center of the ritual site rose from the ground. It's head lifted up and she saw another being with a large, horrific skull for a head. Its antlers stood tall, making the creature look all the more large and menacing. Sam didn't dare make a sound, but it was too late, it already knew she was there.

Slowly, the creature turned around to face sam, steam coming from its fanged mouth as it breathed in the cold night air. It approached her. All Sam could do was slowly back up away from the creature as it seemed to glide along the forest floor. Sam jumped when she felt the bark of a tree hit her back. She was too scared to run anymore, and as the monster got closer, she started lowering herself to the ground. A clawed hand appeared out of the cloak the creature wore, and as it got closer, it reached out towards Sam.

Sam felt a title wave of anger emanating from above her. Climbing down from the trunk of the tree like a spider was the Look-See, snarling at the creature that was coming at Sam. His long limbs reached out over her and onto the ground, he rose up tall, standing between her and the foreign monster. The low rumble from his throat was an obvious warning, and the creature backed off. The Look-See approached the antlered monster, and Sam slowly made her way to her feet.

She watched as the two monsters stood in front of one another, all sound had gone from the both of them, and Sam saw something that looked like understanding between the two. Carefully, Sam crept up to the Look-See and reached out, touching the arm of his jacket. Both him and the other creature turned to Sam in unison, causing a chill to run down her spine.

"What's going on?" She asked, her voice weak. She seemed to know the answer to her questions ask she asked them.

Queen of the forest.

Mordeo.

Her breathing became labored as she looked at her, the Mordeo. "There's more of you? How many?"

Many.

Sam's head spun and she reached up, her hands reaching into her bloody hair. Her chest go tight and it got even harder to breathe. Tunnel vision set in and she backed away from the monsters, needing space. There were more. More of him, of them. Exactly how many were there?

Sam had no time to think on this, however, as she heard leaves crunch underneath swift footsteps. The other creature that had been chasing her finally caught up and lept at Sam. Sharp claws dug into her shoulder and down her back. She screamed, feeling the painful burning of her flesh ripping under the weight of this monster. Fangs entered into her shoulder, the creature tasting her blood and biting down to take out chunks of her skin.

The roar that came from the Mordeo shook the trees in the forest, echoing for miles. The Look-See grabbed the creature that was attacking Sam and ripped it off of her, throwing it onto the ground and away from her. Her vision was starting to go blurry again as she became blinded with pain. She watched as the Mordeo approached the other creature, her claws digging into its skull.

Sam fell onto her back, feeling the blood leave her body as she began to lose consciousness.

The last thing she heard was ticking the of the watch,

Slow

Quiet

Until...

Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.  
If you liked this, come find me on my tumblr for more of my stuff.  
https://river675.tumblr.com/


	7. Chapter 7

Sam ran for her life. She was in so much pain she couldn't even stand it. The forest was so dark and she could barely even see two feet in front of her, but she ran. Tears were falling from her eyes, fear had overtaken her completely and despite her lungs feeling like they were on fire and her body screaming for her to stop, she still ran.

Sam's foot caught on a tree branch and she fell, a broken branch scraping her forehead on her way down. She pulled herself back up with her good arm, the other one tucked tightly into her body as she was bleeding profusely from the claw marks on her shoulder and back. She touched her head, realizing the cut on her skin was in the shape of a half-circle.

She heard rustling in the leaves nearby and saw the shape of something hiding behind the trees. She scrambled to her feet and watched carefully. From behind a large oak tree walked out a horrific monster, it's skin black with soot, its face horribly mangled.

Sam held in a scream and she took off running again. The monster roared after her, shaking Sam to her core. As she ran, the trees began to change, thinning out into lighter colored birch trees. She could see from the corners of her vision that horrible monster that attacked her earlier that night running after her, just behind, gaining quickly.

As the forest grew thinner it was harder for her to hide, but Sam's body finally gave out on her and she collapsed onto a tree. Breathing heavily, her entire body shaking, she frantically looked around. She noticed something, though. There was a symbol carved into the birch tree, and she felt a horrible sense of dread come from it. Despite the overwhelming pain she felt she pushed herself to keep running.

The forest began changing yet again, the trees morphing into different shapes and colors and sizes. Sam ran passed a lake, and as she did, a disgusting, decayed, deformed monster came crashing out of the water. She screamed, and as she turned to run the other way, she stopped dead in front of a little girl.

She was small, her white dress covered in blood. A cloth covered her eyes and metal chains hung from her body. Sam backed up slowly, and the monster that had sprung from the lake jumped on her. Sam tried to fight it off, its slimy black body easily slipped off and she got away.

Sam didn't feel safe, but she needed to stop. She found a landmark, an odd wooden door in the middle of the woods and hid behind it, looking around for any sign of the entities that chased her. She had to sit down, let her throbbing muscles rest for just a moment. She sat in the leaves pulled up at the base of the door, resting against it until her head stopped spinning.

There was no way she was making it out of these woods alive. She was cold, and when she looked down at her hands, her skin was pale. She leaned her head back and for just a moment, closed her eyes.

There was a sharp thud on the back of the door. Sam jumped to her feet and looked back, and all of a sudden the door started violently rattling. She held her breathe, her heart racing, and the door burst wide open. Inky blackness lay just beyond, and she watched for a moment in utter suspense.

A horrific brute of a creature ran out of the doorway, roaring loudly and coming right for her. Sam screamed at the top of her lungs.

And then she woke up.

Sam was terrified. She was still screaming when she woke up, still trying to get away from the creatures that chased her in her dreams. Horrible pain wracked her body and she was lucky she was lying down or else she would have fallen over.

"Hey, calm down, kid, you're alright." A voice from nearby said. Sam looked over and saw a man walking up to where she lay. He placed a hand on her shoulder and made sure she wouldn't move.

"Who are you?" She said, her voice almost failing her as she then realized how dry her mouth was. She must have been asleep for a while.

"I'm here to _help_ you, now _calm down_. You've been out for two days, stop moving." He said and removed his hand from her shoulder, taking a seat in a chair nearby.

Two days? Sam took a moment to gain her bearings. She looked around the room, noticing she was in a small one-room cabin, sunlight pouring in through the windows all around. She also noticed that she was bandaged up now. Her shoulder, back, and neck were all wrapped tightly with gauze. She was still in a ridiculous amount of pain, but it was better than it had been. She couldn't move her arm, as it was in a sling and wrapped tightly to her body. She noticed that under the blanket where she lie, she was naked except for her underwear. She shot the man a dirty look and he waved her off.

"Relax, will ya? I ain't did nothing perverted. Your dress was torn to shreds anyway. You're lucky I got to you when I did, you lost a lot a blood." He stood up from his chair and brought her over a couple of things.

He handed Sam her phone first. The screen was cracked pretty bad now, but it still worked. He then handed her some pills. They were the heavy-duty pain killers Sam took recreationally, but now there was an actual use for them. She quickly grabbed them and swallowed them dry before the man could even hand her the glass of water he had.

"Jesus, slow down." He handed her the water and she took it, managing to give him a weak smile.

"Thank you..." When she drank, she immediately felt so much better. Being out for two days like that could do some real damage. "How'd you find me?" She asked between large gulps of the water.

"When she calls, I answer." He smiled and gave Sam a knowing look. The man then grabbed a red flannel shirt and handed it over to Sam. It was a few sizes too big and fit her like a smock, but she was thankful to have something to cover her body. She sat up and threw it over her shoulders, slipping only one arm through the holes. She had a hard time fumbling with the buttons using just one hand, and the man suddenly sat down on the bed next to her and helped her get the shirt on.

She watched his face carefully. She finally got a good look at him. He seemed older, mid-forties, with shoulder-length brown hair and a short peppered beard. Her throat felt thick and she swallowed hard. "So, what exactly is a Mordeo." Her voice was quiet as she tested the waters.

He glanced up, looking her dead in the eyes. He didn't answer her question, but instead, fixed the collar around her neck so it didn't pull at her bandages, and then stood up.

"You know, not many people have a run-in like that with the Mordeo and live. You're a lucky one, ya know that? You're under her protection now. As long as you carry this," The man pulled the Look-See's watch out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Sam. "You'll be alright." After everything that had gone on, she had completely forgotten about it. She snatched it out of his hand and held it tightly to her chest. The ticking noise had been comforting to her after all this time. She stared down at the backwards ticking watch and suddenly felt his presence somewhere in the room.

"How do you know about-"

"Here." He interrupted her by handing over a large, leather-bound book from the table. "Ya got a lot of questions, hopefully, this'll answer'em." He gave her a quick smile and turned to leave, taking a step outside, leaving Sam alone with the book.

The book felt a lot heavier than it should have. Sam carefully opened the cover and inspected each page closely. Most of the words she couldn't read, either they were in Latin or a language she couldn't recognize. She flipped around in the book, seeing creatures that terrified her until she stopped. There on two separate pages of the book were illustrations of her own nightmare.

"It's you." She stated, and when she looked up, the Look-See was sitting in the chair right next to the bed. His arm was resting on the mattress, his smile as wide as ever. "Holy shit. The fuck does this mean?" She looked up at his almost featureless face and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry." She finally whispered after a long pause, and then held up the odd watch between them. "I'm sure I'd be a pain in the ass to replace me if I died. I'll do better."

His hand reached out and enclosed her fist in his long fingers. Slowly he leaned closer to her, tilting his head and opening his mouth to let out that low clicking noise.

"You're so _fucking _terrifying," Sam said with wide eyes. "How the fuck are you even real?"

The door to the cabin opened back up and in came the man from before. Of course, when Sam looked away, he was gone. She tucked the watch into her shirt pocket and swung her legs over the side of the bed, standing up on shaky legs.

"You should eat." He said. He walked over and handed Sam her wallet. "I'll make you soemthin'." The thought of food gave her hunger pains and she was so thankful she had this man looking after her.

"I'm sorry. I never even asked your name." Sam made her way to a small bathroom, leaving the door open as she was afraid she would either fall over or blackout again. She looked at her own face in the mirror and saw that she looked like absolute shit, blood and dirt caked into her hair and on her face.

"Henry." He said flatly from the other room. He popped his head into the bathroom and handed her a rag. She thanked him and ran it under some water, using it to clean off her face. "And what can I call you?" He asked as he headed back into the other room.

Sam thought for a long moment before answering. "Sung-Mi." After splashing some water on her face she continued. "That book... when I was out I had a dream I was being chased by half the monsters in that thing. What is it?"

"Fuck if I know." He called over to her. Sam could smell the food he was making, bacon, sausage, probably eggs. Her stomach rumbled painfully.

She stepped out of the bathroom and watched as Henry cooked the most delicious food she'd ever seen. He glanced up at her and gave a lopsided smile. 

"You're starting to look like less of a monster yourself, there, kid." He chuckled and she made a face at him. She went back to the bed and grabbed the book, tossing it onto the table and sitting down to flip through the pages again. She found the information about the Mordeo and saw something about a flesh-eating ritual. Sam was fascinated by all these different nightmarish creatures.

When Henry came over to the table, Sam had never been more excited to eat than she had in her entire life. Her mouth was watering. All she got, though, was a bowl of bland oatmeal. Shocked, she looked over at the full plate he had, with the delicious food he had just made, and Sam looked at him as if he just slapped her in the face.

"What?" Henry shrugged. "You've been in a fuckin' coma practically. Eat too much too quick and you'll get sick."

Sam's eyes narrowed. She reached over the table and snatched a sausage off of Henry's plate without breaking eye contact. He was about to say something, but she gave him a look like she was ready to fight him, and he sighed and let it go.

They are the rest of their food in silence. Finally, the heavy-duty pain killers she took were starting to kick in and she was able to feel like herself again. After finishing, Henry offered to drive Sam home, which she was incredibly thankful for. He pointed to her flats he kept near the front door of the cabin and she slipped into them.

Just outside, Sam saw her dress from the other day draped over the railing on the front porch. Henry was right, the thing _had_ been ripped to shreds. It was covered in dirt and blood, most of which her own. She slipped off the black belt from the dress and wrapped it around her waist, trying to turn the large shirt into a flannel dress and somewhat succeeding. When Henry stepped outside after her, she caught him glance up and down in her direction.

He cleared his throat. "You're not gonna want that back, are ya?" He motioned towards the dress.

"Toss it. The raccoons can make better use of it than I can."

When she stepped off the porch to get into his truck, though, she could feel herself being watched. Sam looked up and saw off in the distance that she was being watched by none other than the Mordeo. Henry caught her staring and gave her a wide smile.

"Amazing, 'ain't she?"

"All hail the queen." She mumbled.

~

Henry parked across the street from Sam's apartment building. He leaned on the steering wheel, watching Sam as she fiddled with the pocket watch in her lap.

"I really don't know how to thank you." She mumbled while looking downwards.

"Like I said before, kid, if she calls, I answer." Henry gave her a smile. "I don't like questioning her, so I just did what I was told."

Sam thought for a long moment, picking the skin on the lip with her teeth. "Do you... Wanna come inside?" She asked, finally looking up at him.

Sam could feel her stomach drop a little when he laughed at her. "Sorry, kid. I don't think so. Bein' honest, I think it'd be best you forgot we ever met." Sam couldn't quite make eye contact with him anymore as she licked her lips.

"At least let me go change. I'll give you your shirt back."

"Keep it." He waved her off. "It's got your blood on it now, I don't want that garbage." She sneered at him and then got out of the car.

"Thank you again." She said sincerely. He waved goodbye and she headed back towards her apartment.

Sam had lost her car keys in the crash, as well as her apartment key. She'd have to pay for a replacement eventually, but she'd deal with it later. She found the loose brick near her door and pulled it out, grabbing the spare key from behind. She tucked it back into place and went to unlock her front door, but, she noticed that it was already open by a crack.

Sam quickly looked back out towards the street and saw that Henry had already left, and she would have to face this alone. She reached into her pocket and gripped the watch tightly, the ticking matching the beat of her heart, and she felt better knowing that he was there with her.

She opened the front door slowly, peeking in to see if she saw anybody. The room was empty, but the lights were on. She stepped in, trying to be as quiet as possible, and that's when she heard rustling coming from her bedroom. She was probably being robbed, as her apartment had been completely vacant these last couple of days.

As quiet as she could, Sam grabbed a large knife from her kitchen drawer and made her way over to the bedroom. The light was on and the door was cracked open. She could see someone hunched over her dresser, going through her things. When they got to the small box of jewelry she had, they opened it, and then put it back down. Sam was confused as to why they didn't take anything.

Sam crept quietly into her own room, coming up behind the person, and raised the knife high.

She must have made a noise because the person she was creeping up on turned around and yelled when he saw Sam. She dropped the knife to the ground when she saw, it was just a kid.

"Sung-Mi?" The kid asked, his eyes almost lighting up when he saw her.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sam was in disbelief at what was going on, but her blood began to boil.

"I-I'm Cam Johnson."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :o


	8. Chapter 8

"Waitwaitwait, I can explain why I'm here please don't-"

"I almost fucking died and now I come home to this shit? You've gotta be fucking kidding me, kid!"

Sam dragged the teenager by his shirt collar out of her bedroom. Despite him looking like a kid, he was still taller than her, but he still seemed afraid.

"No, please, Ms. Lu, stop. I need to talk to you about the recent string of serial murders!" He tried to put his hands up and pull away from her grasp, but she wasn't having it.

"No, kid, what you need is to get the _fuck_ out of my house." She threw him into her living room and pointed towards the front door. "Who the absolute fuck do you think you are, fucking breaking into people's houses like this?"

"I can explain that!" He said, placing his hands into a praying motion. "You see, when the police found your car in the forest two days ago, you were presumed dead. I came here because I was _convinced_ you had been taken out by a killer that has been rampaging through this town for the last year." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled note. "You see... I've been following you." Sam's mouth fell open and she took a step back, absolutely horrified. Cam's blue eyes went wide when he realized what he sounded like, though. "N-Not like that! W-what I mean, is, that... There's been a killer in this city. He's been targeting certain people and leaving these cryptic messages about... I don't know, things in their lives that they've been obsessing over. I've been following this string of murders for a while, and I think I'm getting close to finding the killer." He uncrumpled the paper to reveal the note that Sam herself had written.

"If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece."

Sam stepped back, at a complete loss of words. How the fuck did this kid find her?

"You see," He continued. "At every attack, these notes are left behind. That's how I've been able to track him. A man haunted by the loss of his wife to the point of continuing his life with her like she was never gone. A woman obsessed with the business she lost to the bank, to the point where she would break into the building and open up shop anyway. A highschool girl so infatuated with her ex to the point where she tried to hire a hitman on her ex's new girlfriend. It's been the same thing every time. And these notes were _everywhere_."

Sam was beginning to panic now, her breathing heavy. Those were all killings that she herself had a hand in committing.

"Then, there was your upstairs neighbor. You see, I believe his wife is innocent, she _didn't kill him_. Because these notes were found in his apartment as well, two of them in fact. I came to steak out the place a few months ago, and that's when I noticed you..."

No.

Sam wasn't about to let this happen.

The kid had to die.

From behind him, as he spoke, the Look-See slowly crept up out of the shadows, raising his hands towards Cam's neck.

"You see Ms. Lu. I've seen these _exact_ notes fall out of bags you've been carrying." He said, and Sam grit her teeth. "And I believe that you're in grave danger."

"What?"

"I think that's why you were attacked the night of the car crash!" He said excitedly. "When I heard about it the same night that police officer was killed, I thought the killer got to you too. But you're here!"

Wait,

No.

Abort.

_Abort mission_.

"No!" Sam shouted, causing Cam to look confused, but most importantly, causing the Look-See to back down. She licked her lips nervously and stared the kid right in the eye. "I... An oncoming car saw a deer and hit me. That's it. There's no fucking murder after me."

"But then why do you keep getting these notes?" He held up the paper again, almost waving it in her face. "Sung-Mi, you could be in danger, you have to believe me!"

"Kid, you get out of my apartment right now or I'm calling the goddamn cops." She had enough of him now.

"Please, I have more information, just let me-"

Sam grabbed an empty beer bottle off of her coffee table and smashed it against the wall. She then held the broken bottle up to the kid, threatening him as the broken glass cut her own hand. He looked terrified of her just then as blood dripped down her arm and fire burned in her eyes.

"Get. Out." She ordered. And with that, he clambered back to the front door and slipped out. Sam dropped the glass and grabbed the door, slamming it behind him and locking it. She breathed heavily and looked down at her hand and the blood she had gotten all over the doorknob.

"I'm sorry," Cam said, muffled from the other side of the door. "I know I shouldn't have been snooping through your apartment like that. But I really do think you're in danger."

"I'll be fine, kid, go home," Sam said, her voice growing weak. "Please."

After a few moments, she heard a defeated sigh and Cam walking away. She let out her breath that she had been holding and looked down at her hand again. She was tired of seeing her own blood already.

Now not only did Sam have to clean up the mess Cam had made in her apartment, but she also had to clean all that glass up off the floor. Her entire body had become stiff with pain again at this point and her head throbbed. She was so tired. Just moving through the motions the best she could, Sam picked up the chunks of glass off the floor, using a hand vacuum to clean the rest. Luckily the cut on her hand wasn't too deep, and the bleeding quickly stopped. 

Retreating to her kitchen, she grabbed a glass of water and drank as if she had been dying of thirst. She would have to make food at some point, but right now, she didn't care. She was too tired. Sam headed back towards her room, but _he_ blocked the doorway.

Sam's eyes turned down out of habit. "Please," She pleaded with him. "I'm sorry. I just want to rest. I can't do anything right now." Slowly she tilted her head back and actually looked at him. "Give me just... A few days. Please. I can't right now..."

Both of his hands reached up and touched the sides of her face. She felt his claws scrape into her skull, grazing over her skin but not quite hurting her. His fingers dipped into her hair and he took a step closer. The usual pressure from this creature was not there at this moment. When he needed her to go and find someone, to stalk them, to leave notes, to kill them... He would tell her. There would be a sense of absolute urgency coming from him and Sam would have no choice but to obey. But right now, there was nothing. Only him, standing in front of her, with her head in his hands.

Sam leaned her head back as far as she could to look at him, but because of the pain she was in, she could only barely look up to the collar of his shirt. Her body felt like it was going to give out on her at this point if she didn't lie down soon, but for some reason, she didn't want him to stop touching her. After being followed by the Look-See for an entire year, the closest she had gotten to any sort of physical intimacy was when he handled her like this.

Maybe it was the painkillers she was taking, maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe she was beginning to actually feel for the creature that has held her mind captive for all this time. Sam took a step towards him, closing the gap between their bodies, and gently laid her forehead down onto his chest. She could still feel his hands in her hair, but all movement from him had stopped. She had hoped, prayed, that he would not be angry at her for this. His body was so cold, not at all like a person's. He had no heartbeat she could hear, which caused her to become uneasy.

She was the one to pull back this time. Taking her head off his chest and pulling away from his hands. She still longed to be touched, but her desire for sleep won out over what was going on.

"Please move." She whispered. Sam closed her eyes for a few moments and opened them, expecting him to be gone, but he was still there. She was beginning to think that she had actually done something wrong, something to anger him, and she took a step back. "I'm sorry." She whispered again, and her body was beginning to feel heavy as her head started to swim. Still, he wouldn't move.

"Fine." She said through gritted teeth and turned away from him. She could still feel him watching her as she walked into the kitchen, grabbing another glass of water. She was so hungry, she should really probably eat. She found something small in her fridge that hadn't turned or gone moldy yet and sat at her kitchen table, eating in silence.

She stayed sitting there long after finishing her food, staring at the wall in complete stillness as she felt the pain closing in on her again. Eventually, she pulled herself out of her daze and grabbed the pill bottle from her pocket. She fumbled with it in her hand, unable to get passed the child lock and becoming increasingly frustrated.

Sam let out an angry growl and threw the plastic bottle across the room. She stood up and went over to the kitchen sink, leaning over it and trying to hold back tears of frustration. She was so fucking tired of crying all the time, her eyes always hurt. After taking a minute to regain her composure, she stood up and went to leave the kitchen, but noticed the bottle of pills was now sitting on the counter, the lid lying nearby.

Sam wanted to weep when she saw that. She tossed back a couple of pills and put the lid only partially back into the bottle. She had noticed that he was gone now, out of the doorway of her bedroom. She took this opportunity to head back there and finally get some much-needed rest. She wouldn't know how long she would be asleep for, but when she woke up again, she was at least feeling somewhat better.

~

By the time Sam fully healed from her run-in with the Mordeo, summer was gone and the chill of fall had taken full effect. She had been lucky she didn't have to go to the hospital for her injuries, let alone losing her entire arm.

In the time spent after the accident, the Look-See did not call on her once. During her time spent healing, Sam had very limited use of her upper body. He was with her still and watched as she struggled to function with her injuries, so he let her be. Those months had been painfully quiet to her after she had grown accustomed to all the excitement. Sam found herself on multiple occasions asking him outright if he needed her. She would never get any response, other than occasionally seeing glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye, and faint growls coming from the darkened corners of her room.

That night in the woods left a scar on her body. Deep, dark, leaving her shoulder slightly deformed. The pain never truly went away, but it became manageable. The night the Look-See came back to her in full, standing in the doorway of her bedroom and refusing to let her leave, she knew. He needed her again, and she was more than willing to kill for him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a secret for you dear readers.... I am a monster fucker.  
Smut in this chapter.

Ever since Sam had begun work as the proxy of the Look-See, things had been difficult in ways she couldn't even imagine. She was never alone now. Ever. He was always with her, she could feel him watching her every move. She couldn't live a normal life anymore. She was barely able to perform as a regular person anymore when he was always calling on her, needing her to help him kill.

She didn't sign up for this. She had no idea what she was in for in the beginning. But as time went on, Sam found that this was all coming to her easier and easier. The death she was surrounded by came as second nature to her eventually, and she was content. She didn't need a normal life anymore, she didn't want it. What had become of her being was something new, something _better _in her opinion.

But it was still difficult.

She was never alone. Ever. The company grew comforting to her, but a few problems arose. Mainly, that she was a horny fuck and had no idea what to do about it.

Sam hadn't dated since she left her ex, and she hadn't touched herself since the night the Look-See came to her and made her a proxy. Her life had been sustained on a constant supply of fear and a feral need to survive. But as being in proximity with a monster became more natural to her, old thoughts began to arise. And so did the cravings.

Sam's body ached as she showered. She could feel the heat grow strong between her legs as she washed her body. She was afraid of having thoughts and cravings like these when he lived inside her head. She had no idea how he would react, or if he even cared, but she didn't want to risk it. Still, as she found herself reaching up and grabbing her own breasts, she didn't _want _to stop herself.

As she flicked her thumb across her nipple, Sam felt a jolt of electricity run through her body that she hadn't felt in far too long. She groped at her own breasts, twisting and pinching her nipples. She let her lips fall open and she let out a low moan that echoed off the bathroom walls. Suddenly, under the hot water, she felt an odd chill run up her spine.

Sam could feel herself being watched.

She began to feel embarrassed, but the lust that still wracked her body didn't go away. Begrudgingly, she stopped touching herself and turned off the water. She should have known that this would be a bad idea. She stepped out of the shower and toweled off, wrapping it around her body, and headed out into her bedroom.

Sam stood in front of the mirror over her dresser and brushed her wet hair, tearing into the knots she had accumulated as she let it grow so long. Her pussy was throbbing at this point, and she wanted so badly to touch herself, but she was still being watched. She could feel nonexistent eyes on her and for some reason, that just made her feel all the more excited. Setting her hairbrush down, she sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes trailed over her own body, along the scars going down her neck and shoulder. She remembered quite fondly the night she got them, and the faint, lingering pain from that night came back.

Then, she saw him in the mirror, standing in a far corner of her room. She turned around to say something to him, but when she looked back, he wasn't there. Confused, she slowly turned around back to the mirror, and there was his reflection again. She did a double-take to confirm he wasn't actually standing behind her, and then she questioningly stared at his reflection. He was there, but... He wasn't. She didn't quite understand his doings for this, but then again, she didn't fully understand him. Not bothering to question it any further, she tried to fall back into her routine.

But... She couldn't.

She kept glancing at his reflection, just standing there, watching her. She knew he was watching her before, but now actually seeing him there was... Different. Sam absentmindedly squeezed her thighs together, and she became all too aware of just how wet she was right then and there. She quickly pulled her eyes away from his reflection and bit her lip, honestly beginning to feel guilty about being so fucking horny.

Suddenly, she felt calm.

Sam could sometimes feel what he felt. If he needed her to go somewhere or do something, she knew. If he was angry with her, she knew. But right now, he was calm. Almost encouraging her. Sam was utterly confused, not fully understanding what he wanted from her until she started to feel herself dripping with lust. She let out a shallow breath and glanced back at his reflection in the mirror. He lowered his head, letting out that low growl and she felt herself grow hot.

The sudden feeling became almost too much for her as Sam wasn't entirely sure what to do next. She kept getting gentle encouragement from him, though, and slowly her confidence began to build. She slipped the towel off, standing naked under his gaze as she used it to dry her hair. She kept glancing his way as she could feel herself be eaten up by his presence.

Sam's movements were slow and deliberate, not trying to rush, but desperately wanting more of what was going on. She let the towel slip out of her hand and fall onto the floor, and then placed both of her palms on her dresser. She moved her legs apart slightly and leaned forward, puffing her chest out towards the mirror and sticking her ass out so he could get a better view of her. Something about the fact that he was standing just out of reach made it all the more exciting for her, and her heart began to race.

Sam's fingers reached up and trailed along her collar bone, teasing her skin that was hot to the touch. Her fingers danced until they pulled down and reached her breast, groping at it for him to watch in her reflection. With just her fingernail, she teased her own nipple, playing with it until it got hard, and she pinched it and moaned. Sam bit her lip and played with herself, never taking her eyes off her fearsome companion.

Eventually, the teasing got too much for her and her hand trailed downwards again. She let her fingers graze over her stomach and down into the thick hair between her legs. Bending down so her chest rested on her dresser, Sam stuck her ass out towards him and used her fingers to spread her pussy lips wide open. Her hair slid forward and hid most of her face, but she peeked through the wet strands and watched his reflection carefully. The more she did, the more sheepish she became. She still felt the encouragement she got from his presence, but the embarrassment was starting to catch up with her.

Slowly the realization of just how lude she was being had begun to weigh heavier than her lust, and her face became beat red as she stood there, spreading herself wide for him. She shrunk behind her arm that rested on the dresser and only let one eye peek out to watch his reflection. If her pussy wasn't aching and throbbing the way it was, she would have wanted to stop, but she wasn't backing down now.

She slipped one finger between her lips, her sweet juices making her so slick her finger just glided along. It had been forever since she had touched herself like this, and her body shuddered at the much-needed attention. She used just one finger and played with her folds, teasing herself and letting him watch her drip with lust. She craved the feeling of something inside her and she began thinking about how much she wanted him... She knew he was inside her head, so she let herself fantasize about him coming up behind her and holding her down on the dresser and fucking her senseless. He didn't move, but she did see his smile grow wider.

Sam began fingering her tight little hole, teasing herself, and she accidentally let out a moan that was a little too loud. Her face was so red now as she watched him, and then she slowly slid her finger inside. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she moaned again. Her hips began to wiggle as she grinded on her own hand, her entire body on fire. She could feel her clit throb and she refused to touch it, wanting to draw out the feeling a little bit longer. She slipped a second finger inside her and she stood up on her tiptoes, making sure he could watch as she fucked herself with her own hand. Quiet curses left her lips as she became drunk with this feeling, enjoying being watched but wanting so bad for him to come touch her.

Arching her back and sticking her ass up higher in the air, she slipped her slick fingers out and left herself open, silently praying he would come over and take her, but he still didn't move. The fire had built up almost painfully in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't wait any longer. Sam's wet fingers slid to her clit and she let out the most decadent sigh of relief when she started gently working it in slow circles. Her eyes watched his reflection with heavy lids as she gave him this show, still begging him to come take her, but as her legs began to shake, she knew she couldn't last long.

Sam had been much closer than she thought as she could feel the heat bubbling up inside her begin to spill over. Her hand worked frantically as she played with her clit, her knees shook as she struggled to hold herself up, but she wanted so badly for him to watch every moment. Her pussy spasmed as her climax overtook her, her walls clenching on nothing, but her entire body rocked with waves and waves of intense pleasure. Sam squeezed her eyes shut as her thighs pressed together, keeping her own fingers trapped as they twitched, trying to rock herself into a few more moments into blissful oblivion.

Eventually, Sam pulled her hand out from between her legs and placed both her arms on the dresser. She rested her head onto her arms and breathed heavily as she continued watching as his reflection stood at the other side of the room. As she came down from her high, she was once again beginning to feel rather embarrassed as to what she had just done. She had never done that for anyone before, let alone a fucking monster. Regret slowly started to well up into her chest as she stood up and slowly turned around to look at him to see if he was actually there.

And he was there, standing mere inches from her. She gasped and stepped back, pressing her back into the dresser with nowhere to retreat to. He reached up and gently took her face into his hands and pulled her closer. She stared at him with wide eyes as he bent down and brought his face close to hers. What surprised her most was that, his hands, they were _warm_. Before she could even think, though, his long tongue slid from between his teeth and pushed her lips apart, gliding into her mouth.

She made a noise that was a mix of a yelp and a moan and instinctively put her hands onto his chest to try and push him away, but there was no moving him. His tongue was hot and wet and explored every inch of her mouth in slow deliberation. Sam's heart was racing, as he had never touched her like _this_ before, but soon she began to melt into his movements and she closed her eyes. Her hands slowly made their way up his chest and her arms wrapped around his neck. As his tongue played with hers she pressed her body tightly into his, and she could feel his hands make their way down her back to hold her.

Just as she began to lose herself in the blissful feeling of being in his arms, he pulled away. She groaned when she felt his tongue slip out of her mouth, and her grip tightened around his neck, but his hands came up and grabbed her arms and gently pulled her off. She stared up at him with heavy lids, her breathing labored, the fire returning to the pit of her stomach. His hand ghosted over her cheek, she leaned into his touch and closed her eyes.

And then he was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

After that rather... Intimate night Sam had, the weight of her situation shifted slightly. As awkward as what had taken place had seemed, something deep inside her felt right. The months that had passed, she had seen more of him than she had ever done before. He would appear to her more often and not just when he needed her. He was always there, and instead of being some omnipresent being haunting her dreams, he became a companion for her everyday life. Occasionally she would be on her own, either doing laundry, watching TV, making dinner... And she would feel him there. She would feel his claws in her hair, caressing the skin on her neck. His touch was warm and comforting her. As comforting as a demon might be.

Though that wasn't the only thing to change over the last few months. The boy from before, Cam Johnson, had thrust himself into Sam's life. He would visit her occasionally to check in and make sure she was alright. He urged Sam to go to the police for some sort of protection, but she refused. Over and over she would try to push the kid out of her life, but his insistence was somewhat... Amiable.

Sam was tired of Cam stopping by her house, so she agreed to give him her phone number. He'd check in with her every once in a while to make sure the 'killer' that had been 'stalking' Sam didn't get to her too. He wanted to do an interview with her, but she kept refusing. Cam let her know that he had a web series where he worked as a freelance investigator and insisted she watched it. Sam figured there wouldn't be any harm in checking it out, at least figure out what he knew.

Sam parked herself on the couch in her living room, her laptop sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She grabbed a throw pillow and held it tight to her chest as she watched, the light in her apartment growing dim as it began to get dark outside.

The video flashed to life, a picture of Cam sitting in his house, many pictures tacked to a corkboard on the wall behind him. "Hey everyone, I'm Cam Johnson, and I'm an investigator. Not professionally, of course..." Sam huffed out a small laugh. He really was just a kid, and you could see it in his baby blue eyes as he attempted to look so sure of himself. "Now, I've been looking into a string of killings along the East Coast, and the closer I look, the more it seems that they're all linked somehow by a string of highly bizarre circumstances." The video cut to an apartment building just outside a city. Sam knew that apartment, she had been there before. She flinched when Cam began talking again.

"Jonathan Markel was a popular novelist who had written three books in his career. They became quite a hit, and he grew a small following of fans. Through his short-lived fame, that's when he met his wife, Susan Markel. About four years after their marriage, she was found dead in their summer home by the beach. Jonathan was devastated by the loss of his wife, brought on by the added stress of being a suspect in her murder case. Upon his eventual release from prison, his mental health slowly began to deteriorate. He started acting as though Susan had never left. Every morning he was seen frequenting his usual coffee shop, buying coffee for himself as well as his deceased wife. When invited to parties, he would always RSVP for both of them, and close friends said he always referred to her as if she were still with him."

"On the evening of the 16th, Jonathan Markel was attacked in his apartment. His neighbors heard him screaming, and when the police arrived, they found him in a brutal state." The video showed pictures of the inside of the apartment, splatters of blood coating the walls, pooling onto the floor. Then, a picture of a mangled body, torn into pieces, lie on the floor in a broken heap. Sam's head began to swim, her mind going back to the night she sat in her car, listing to the man die. She grabbed the beer off the table that sat next to her computer and drank from it, not wanting to be sober for this. "The apartment's security didn't see anyone unusual enter the building that night, and all the doors and windows of the apartment had been locked from the inside. With the state of his body, there would have been no way that Jonathan would have been able to do this to himself. And strangest of all was a note found in his apartment. A handwritten letter saying "If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece." Could this be about the fact that he couldn't let go of his wife's death?" Cam's face appeared on the screen, his own face looking a little bit paler. "I'm going to look into this as much as I can, but in the meantime, keep your eyes out, your heads down, and your ears open." The screen cut to black, and the next video began loading on auto-play.

Sam was amazed by how much this kid knew, though even more so that he would just blatantly show brutal crime scene photos in a video before putting any warnings up beforehand. The more she thought to herself, the more Sam began to think herself a hypocrite. The next video began similar to the first, Cam going over in detail about the victim's life. It was another person Sam had a hand in killing, and she drank more as the video went on. The brutal photo of the person's mangled body appeared, but this time she didn't flinch. Sam was becoming immune to the gore.

She watched almost every video he posted, wanting to know as much as what he knew as possible. There was a video about Charlie, the man Sam herself has killed... Cam went into detail that he thought the wife must have been innocent of the murder, the evidence being the same notes found in his apartment that had been found at every other crime scene. Sam saw a clip of the front of her apartment building, and her eye twitched as the camera then zoomed in on herself. She was struggling to get the door to her apartment open, and as she did, a balled-up piece of paper fell out of her bag.

The next video that played made her blood boil. It was a video Cam had recorded after her car accident, where she was presumed dead.

"Another person has fallen victim to the killer that has been rampaging these last few months," Cam said as soon as the video began. On the corkboard now was one of the notes Sam had written, smudges of ink bleeding over the page. "Last night, thirty-one-year-old Sung-Mi Lu disappeared after a car crash. A second-generation immigrant from Korea, she lived in a rural area most of her life before moving into the city with her then-boyfriend. Reports say that she called the police on him multiple times for domestic abuse, but no matter how many times she called, she always went back to him. Now, as of just last year, they had split, and she has had no reported contact, but could she still have been obsessing over him? She lives in the same apartment building of the victim who was killed not too long ago, where his wife was pinned for the murder. In my research into these murders, I had seen these same notes fall out of her bag, all saying the same thing, "If you yourself cannot release then it will come to take a piece." I had suspected that she would be our killer's next victim, and it looks as though it was the case. It was a two-car collision, and her body was never found, but I'm convinced that she must have been another victim to our killer, as the notes found around her home and ruined car are the same found near our previous victims. This same night a police officer was found on the side of the highway the next town over, brutally murdered. Is our killer becoming more active, taking out multiple people per night? I'll do more research into this, expect a follow-up video soon."

Sam threw her empty beer bottle to the floor, tossing it away angrily. This was a gross invasion of her privacy, one that she did not consent to. Though he posted it when she was presumed dead, and he did seem like he cared... No. She wanted that video gone, so she sent him a text. Now, Sam had been a few drinks in at this point, so her text to Cam was almost illegible, but she was angry and didn't care. Suddenly, she felt a hand in her hair.

Sam didn't bother to turn around, as she knew exactly who it was. She hugged the pillow tightly to her chest as she let the claws of her companion run themselves through her long hair. She leaned her head up and rested it back against his stomach. It was odd, but as she rested her head into him, she felt his body move as though he were breathing... Had he done that before? Did he need to breathe? The more she noticed about him, the more... Human, he was becoming to her. The Look-See's fingers seemed to be drawn to her neck. As she leaned back, his hand wrapped around her throat gently, searching for her pulse. He felt her heartbeat beneath her skin, seemingly fascinated by it.

"Who are you?" Sam found herself asking, her voice quiet. That question made him stop moving, though he did not remove his hands from her. Sam reached her hand up experimentally and placed it into the skin of his wrist, reaching up underneath his sleeve. "You must have been somebody at one point... I want to know your name..." After she spoke, the Look-See slowly backed away, disappearing. Sam was left slightly mournful, though was used to his behavior at this point. She left her spot on the couch and grabbed another beer, taking it with her and drinking it as she showered.

Sam went to bed naked, slipping underneath the covers as her head swam from the alcohol. She wondered if she would have trouble getting to sleep. Then she wondered if her fearsome companion was still there. She threw the covers off of herself and sat up, and there he was, standing in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing over there?" Sam asked him. Of course, he didn't respond, he never did. "Are you gonna stand there watching me or are you gonna come join me for a change?" With a mischievous smile, Sam lied down against her pillows, spreading her legs wide. In her drunken state, she had no shame. Seeing as how she now had an audience whenever she had gotten naughty, Sam had been grooming herself again for the first time in years. Her pussy was cleanly shaved, her pink lips peeking out for him to see. Sam licked her pointer and middle finger, making a big slow of running her tongue down her hand, and then sliding that hand down to the heat between her legs. Almost too roughly, she shoved her fingers between her lips and started playing with herself. She was being rather sloppy about it, actually, from how out of it she had been.

"Come join me," She ordered him now. Of course, he didn't, and instead just stood there, watching her display. "Get over here and fuck me..." Sam tried her hardest to make her words sound harsh, but just couldn't. The rejection she felt stung, and she didn't quite know what to do.

With a loud huff, Sam grabbed her blankets and threw them back of herself. She shoved her face deep into her pillow, wishing him away as he still watched her. The emotions bubbled over, and she hated how she felt. It wouldn't be long before she cried herself to sleep, drifting off while feeling something run gently through her hair.


End file.
